I'd Be Yours, If You'd Be Mine
by DeepPoeticGirl
Summary: /SasuSaku prompts/ A world that tore them apart, and a love that gave the way. Ratings vary from K to M.
1. we forgot the world around

**Prompt**: _Sakura sees Sasuke standing in front of her when he arrives on the battlefield_

**Rating**: _K+_

**A/N**: _A LOT OF SPOILERS, BASICALLY THE ENTIRE THING, FOR 631. SO DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE SPOILERS._

* * *

Engrossed in the process of healing Naruto's wounds and distracted by the Kages battling, she hadn't sensed him coming at all.

He dropped in front of them, his clothes thrashing around and hair whipping in the wind, caused by the sheer speed of his arrival. Her body went into shock, disbelieving of the scene happening in front of her, concentration now broken. Her healing chakra vanished. Her wide green eyes were frozen onto the figure all but five feet away from her, trying to take in the reality of the situation.

She trembled. _Is he… Is that…_

"Fashionably late… eh, Sasuke!?"

Her hands lowered lightly so she was touching Naruto's back. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't take it in. How was he here—no, _why_ was he here? And was he… was he still _gone_?

Her fingers curled in the blonde's shirt firmly, trying to anchor herself to reality._How can this be happening?_ she thought, shell-shocked. _How can he be here?_Her fingers tightened their grip. _What does he want? Is he… is he still lost in his anguish?_

"Sasuke… kun…?" She was hesitant, and it was obvious in her tone. She wasn't sure this was the Sasuke who tried to kill her the last time he saw her or if this was the Sasuke who still had some sense left in him.

_Or perhaps_, she thought, _this was a whole new Sasuke._

She could see his body tensing a little, almost imperceptibly. She found a strange comfort in the reaction, but she didn't know why. Then Sasuke shifted his body to face hers, tipping his head down a little as he caught her gaze carefully.

Her heart skipped a beat. _Could it be…?_

"…Sakura."

And with that simple acknowledgment, she was certain. A gasp slipped past her lips, head reeling back in utter shock now that she realized, _This is Sasuke-kun, I know him. This is the Sasuke-kun I am familiar with._ She was shaking and tense and nothing else could have been more surprising because he has found his sanity and he is here_ and oh my god what happened to make him turn around_—

"Sa-Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed, certain of his state of mind, yet utterly flabbergasted as to _why_ that was. "Eh?! Why?!"

The others were taking notice now, but she hardly registered this. There were a millions questions swimming through her head and a cacophony of feelings swirling through her. She felt so confused, scared and weary, wondering why in the world he would ever be here without the intention to hurt them, angry, sad and hurt by their last encounter, and her swelling heart didn't help as it proved how much her affections hadn't changed towards this man. Hope fluttered in her tummy but she shoved it down, refusing to give herself any delusion so as not to be so utterly crushed in the end.

She needed to be careful. She needed to be suspicious.

_(But god, she wanted it, she wanted him so much to be back with good intentions.)_

She needed to ask him.

"…Why are you here, Sasuke-kun…?" She knew that her weakness was showing, that the tone of her voice spoke crystal clear of her weariness towards his presence. She knew she was demonstrating her complete lack of trust in this man, and she hoped dearly that he would not hold it against her.

_(silly, a voice whispered, so silly. why would he ever hold this against you if he doesn't care?_

_but maybe he does, a hopeful side of her thought. maybe that's why he's back, maybe he misses us)_

He meets her gaze again, his dark eyes suddenly full of determination and something else that she can't quite pinpoint. "A lot has happened…" He's looking at everyone else, now, moving to speak to them as well. "And I've decided to protect Konoha."

And with these words, she knew her heart never once soared higher.

Sasuke was back.

* * *

**A/N**: _This is only the start of a compilation of stories and drabbles I'm making based on SasuSaku prompts. This will likely contain my entries for the SasuSaku month as well. I wanted to say, as well, that I am currently NOT taking prompts, so don't review with one. But once I am done with my oneshots in the work and the SasuSaku month, I will likely be taking some… LIKELY, BUT NOT FOR SURE. Depends how I'm feeling and if the writing block is back._

_I hope you enjoyed! And yes, I purposefully left out the "Hokage" part because I felt it didn't fit the mood._

_Love you,_

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	2. this woman's world, it's hard on the man

**Prompt**: _Sasuke helps Sakura on the battlefield._

**Rating**: _K+_

**A/N**: _Obviously based off the recent chapters, so maybe slight spoilers?_

* * *

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

The temptation to roll his eyes nearly overcomes him, but instead the man settles for a huff.

"Protecting you," he deadpans. "And helping you."

"I don't need your protection!" she bellows back, sounding utterly irritated. "Or your help!"

He raises an eyebrow and turns his head to look at her, a strange expression marring his face. She isn't that arrogant, is she? She couldn't possibly be. Sakura had to know she wouldn't have been able to get rid of those clones alone—they had been huge and numerous. They were nothing like their small counterparts they had previously been fighting.

Distantly, he remembers the way she happily called his name when he came to her rescue, and the pretty blush on her face. What happened to that? Didn't she always want him to be her knight in shining armor?

"You're getting it regardless," he finally says, looking towards the battlefield again and counting the number of clones rushing towards them.

_Five,_ he thinks. But then his sharingan catches a sixth signature, and he corrects himself. _Six. Six clones their size shouldn't be too hard to handle. _

"I'm not weak!"

Sasuke freezes. _Now_ he's confused.

_Since when does needing help equal being weak? _he wonders, narrowing his eyes in impatience.

He looks at her again. "I never said you were," he says slowly, shifting his body completely to face hers.

She stood from her crouching position, straightening her back proudly before pointing a furious finger at him.

"You protecting me means you think I'm weak!" she snaps, curling her the hand pointing at him in a tight fist.

He glares, feeling a little bit exasperated. Was that what the problem was? She'd mistaken his little defending act as her own confirmation of weakness in his eyes? She needed help and he gave it to her. He wasn't trying to protect her because he thought she couldn't. He was protecting her because it was in his blood, and he couldn't help it.

"It means I'm helping you," he growled, planting his chokuto on the ground and crossing his arms firmly on his chest. "Because you're my teammate," he added, almost like an afterthought.

"The weak teammate!"

It took everything in Sasuke not to groan. They didn't have time for this! The clones would be there in barely a few minutes! They needed to be ready to counter their attacks!

"You were surrounded, vastly outnumbered, and they were closing in on you," he grounds out. "I did what I had to do to make sure you would survive."

"Because alone, I _obviously_ would have died!" she says, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Didn't you see me completely pummel hundreds of clones earlier?"

He takes a step forward. "This is different, Sakura. You wouldn't of had the time—"

"Oh, screw you! You just thought I couldn't handle it!" she yells, shoving him back.

He grits his teeth and lets out a long, frustrated sigh. "No, Sakura," he says, almost softly. "It's called teamwork. You have my back, I have yours. We protect each other. Work together." He uncrosses his arms, takes the kusanagi again, and lifts his lips in an almost-smirk. "Fight together."

She relaxes, slowly. "Fighting together," she murmurs softly, a light smile trying to make its way to her lips. It's almost nostalgic.

But then she winks. "I'll protect you too, Sasuke-kun," she says, crouching down again as she senses the clones approaching.

He huffs and turns towards the enemies. "I don't need it."

"But you'll get it anyway," she quips, giggling.

He nearly smiles. "Yeah," he says, getting back into battle formation, back to back with her. "But I'll get it anyway."

* * *

**A/N**_: Don't ask me where Naruto is, I don't know. Pretend that something happened and the team needed to break off or he's off fighting with his dad or Hinata or something. He's just not there with them at the moment. I __**obviously **__don't think something like this would happen with just the two of them (maybe Team 7, though, I just didn't know how to incorporate Naruto without ruining the mood) but I hope it looked believable. Also, I don't think Sasuke is that OOC because he's been falling back into old habits so fast and Sakura always used to make him smile easily. ^_^_

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	3. can she hear my heart coming through?

**Prompt**: _Sasuke develops feelings for Sakura during their marriage._

**Rating**: _T+, maybe M. _

**A/N**: _Some sexual reference but nothing really too explicit. Likely a little OOC because I couldn't seem to find a way to make him grow feelings for her without being a little caring. Also incredibly messy and maybe even distorted. Sorry._

* * *

There were many reasons why Sasuke chose to marry her. Most of which were selfish, to be honest. She was a great kunoichi—one of the bests in Konoha, actually. She would be a wonderful addition—no, no, an ideal start to the new Uchiha clan. She would help him build their reputation anew, would help create a new meaning to it.

She loved him, unconditionally so, and he cherished those feelings so deeply in his heart. It had meant so much to him—not the world, but a great deal—when he learned that her love never perished. She made him feel accepted and good… something he often doubted he was (his memories were so haunting and guilt-filled, pulling him back to believe the worst about himself).

Sakura was the woman he cared most about, next to his dead mother. He respected her, trusted her. She was precious to him. He didn't love her, and he didn't think he harbored anything romantic towards her (he wasn't too sure about that though), but nonetheless she was the only woman he could ever imagine himself spending the rest of his life with. He couldn't explain why but he knew that he wanted _her_ by his side—whether that was because of her undying devotion to him or because she filled that emptiness inside of him, he didn't really know. He just wanted her there.

Yes, there were many selfish reasons he chose to marry her, but the real reason was surprisingly selfless: He knew that with time he could return her feelings with the same intensity.

And that was something Sakura deserved after all her years of dedication.

.

.

.

.

There was no extravagant wedding. Their union was quiet and private, performed only in the presence of their old team. Hell, they almost didn't invite Naruto because of his strong objection to their engagement when they first told him but—

_("What the hell, Sasuke! Do you even love her!?"_

"_No, Naruto. I don't."_

"_Then why the fuck did you ask her to marry you?!"_

"…_.Because I know that one day, I can.")_

—he came around in the end.

The kiss that sealed their new titles was their first, and would be their most awkward in their life together. He was unsure about what to do, hesitant in the way he pressed their lips together, as if wondering if he was doing it right. Despite the unease, his kiss was soft—even sweet. And that made her smile.

When night came, they had their honeymoon. He was so clueless about what to do and where to touch that she had to take the lead at first, telling him what she liked and guiding his hands on her body. He caught on quickly enough. She fulfilled her own fantasies by touching him back, running her hands all over him, cheeks reddening in desire when he responded to her touch with low groans. Then, they finally joined with her on top. She was shy and hesitant, but she loved watching him grimace in pleasure as she timidly moved above him.

Unfortunately, their coupling ended all too quickly. Although she should have expected it (he was a virgin after all), she couldn't help but to feel slightly disappointed as they lied besides each other, panting for breath. That didn't last long, however, because as soon as he regulated his breathing, Sasuke moved on top of her and slowly—hesitantly—kissed his way down until he was situated between her legs.

_("Just tell me what to do," he whispered.)_

He made her see stars.

.

.

.

.

(This would also be the one and only time they would have sex for the next two years.)

.

.

.

.

The next morning, Sakura woke up alone.

Sasuke had left a note telling her was was gone training in all too few words.

Pissed, sore and slightly upset, she later on greeted her returning husband by decking him.

The latter quickly learned that there was a way to leave one's wife a morning after sex, and that this was not the way to do it.

He also learned that, "I thought you'd be too sore," was not an eligible excuse _not_ to invite her to training.

.

.

.

.

Things quickly went dark for them as Sasuke started dealing with his past again.

He spent many of his days at the dobe-sama's office, trying to come up with concrete plans to change the ways of the village. All too often, he'd come home angry and closed off, slamming doors and muttering a string of curses. He pushed her away when she tried to help him calm down, telling her to leave him alone none too gently. He was never cruel, though—only stern.

His nights were plagued by the ghosts that tormented him since he was a child, nightmares wrecking his body until he was drenched in sweat. His muttering and shivering would wake her every night, and they would only stop when she took him in her arms and ran her fingers through his hair, whispering soft, comforting words while she peppered kisses on his face. He would wake quickly, but would say nothing—he'd only let her hold him until they both fell asleep again.

She chased the darkness away, and for nearly a year he struggled with not knowing how to thank her, how to show her he appreciated her doings. Every night he would let her hold him, console him, and he would hate himself the next morning for not doing or saying anything.

.

.

.

.

When Sakura was nearly killed taking a hit in the event of an assassination attempt meant for him, he had an epiphany concerning his feelings for her. As he held her shaking body in his arms and tried to stop her from bleeding out by pressuring her wound, he realized he could never recover in life should she ever die on him. She had become such a strong pillar in his life, the only thing that was truly constant, and he depended on her for that.

She was the one who found him every time he lost himself. She was the one who reassured him every time he felt afraid. She was the one who showed him light when he saw only darkness. She was the one who gave him affection when he needed it most. She was the one who loved him at his worst.

And when he looked at those scared green eyes and felt her squeeze his arm for support, he knew how much he cared for her. He knew he was starting to fall.

This was the reason he kissed her forehead with immense affection when she woke up the next morning at the hospital. She was stunned, but she let him draw her into his arms, her own limbs slipping around him to offer consolation.

(They would realize, later, that this would be the moment when things started to change in their marriage.)

.

.

.

.

The first time Sakura found a daffodil on her office desk, she was both surprised and confused. Didn't everyone know she was married now? Wasn't it disrespectful to send her this particular flower—a flower which meant to demonstrate one's admiration towards another while also telling them they are the only one?

_Was it Lee?_ she thought to herself, pondering quietly while she approached her desk._ No, it couldn't be._ She shook her head. _He has a girlfriend now, doesn't he? It would be deeply inappropriate._

Then she noticed the slip of paper under it and tensed. She was quite anxious to find out who it was since she'd have to let that person down as soon as possible as not to let them have false hopes. But when she picked it up, she gasped, recognizing Sasuke's handwriting.

_For you,_ it read.

A blush spread across her cheeks. Did Sasuke know what exactly this flower meant? Or was he simply returning one of the many daffodils she had given him in the past?

Nevertheless, Sakura felt awed. Each gesture was thoughtful of him, and they both made her happier than ever.

.

.

.

.

One night, after he woke from his usual nightmare to Sakura's soothing voice and loving embrace, he didn't waste any time into thinking how he could show her his gratitude—he simply followed his instincts. Curling his fingers in her hair, he tugged her face down to his and kissed her deeply, passionately. She made a sound of surprise at first, but otherwise responded in the like.

The way she so easily accepted his impulsive kiss is what made him push her deeper into the bed, before climbing on top of her. He kissed her again, lips hot against hers, his wandering hands making her tingle everywhere. But he made sure she wanted this before he went any further.

The look of pure desire and love in her eyes combined with the way she arched her hips up to meet his was the only confirmation he needed.

He was the one to take the lead this time, touching her everywhere and setting her skin on fire. He was clumsy and still evidently new at this, but his determination and pure passion made up for his lack of experience. And although he wasn't able to hold out for her this time either, he definitely made her tumble off the edge afterwards with his talented mouth. Twice.

And as they fought to catch their breath in the aftermath, all wrapped up in each other's arms, Sasuke came to a conclusion: he knew he wasn't in love with her yet, but he sure as hell was on his way.

.

.

.

.

They had sex pretty regularly after that night. It was a way for them to learn about each other and themselves, to express their feelings more clearly towards the other—to become closer. It was a way to release their worries and stress, to get rid of negative feelings—a way to turn a bad day into a good one.

Sex opened up a whole new door to their relationship.

.

.

.

.

He held her hand in public for the very first time on her twenty-fourth birthday, nearly three years since they had been married.

(After that, he would hold her hand more often than not when they went out of the house.)

.

.

.

.

He wouldn't take her out on their anniversaries, nor would he ever buy her anything fancy or special. He wouldn't send her cards, nor would he ever make a big romantic speech.

But he would do little things. He would bring her breakfast in bed, buy a bouquet of her favorite flowers (which he would never give in person but would leave somewhere in the house for her to find in surprise), compliment her when she would least expect it, give her a massage, and cuddle (something he never initiated but never denied).

And those little things meant more to her than any fancy necklace or luxurious date could.

.

.

.

.

When Sasuke realized he was in love with her, it was during a small, every day moment of their daily routine, on the day of their fifth anniversary.

She was hanging their laundry out in their backyard, and maybe it was because of the way the sun shone down on her or how the wind breezed through her hair, but he realized at that very moment just how much he was in love with this woman.

The realization was so painfully exhilarating that he couldn't help but to snake his arms around her from behind, laying kisses all over her skin. She jumped, squeaking in surprise before laughing endearingly.

"Sasuke-kun! I'm hanging the laundry!"

He wouldn't let her go though, instead tightening his arms and laying a deep, solid kiss on her temple and keeping his lips there. She sensed the seriousness in the action and frowned, turning around in his arms with a worried look. Before she could voice anything, he landed a loving, warm, somewhat desperate kiss on her mouth, slipping his fingers in her hair so he could pull her head closer to his own. He kissed her with a sort of urgency that he had never displayed before. Not this strongly, anyway. It made her tear up.

When Sasuke ended the kiss, he pulled her closer instead of leaning away. Pressing their foreheads together, he looked deeply in her eyes.

"…I love you," he whispered, humbled, while keeping her close to him.

She gasped, completely not expecting a confession from him, and the tears finally slipped from her eyes due to the all too overwhelming happiness consuming her.

"You kept your promise," she whimpered against his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly.

He closed his eyes and hugged her closer. "I knew I would."

* * *

**A/N:** _Oh god, so messy! Did not like how that turned out at all! But I guess since it's a drabble I might be excused? Maybe I'll rework on it and turn it into a full-fledged oneshot or multi-chaptered story… hmm. We'll see._

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	4. every breath every hour has come to this

**Title:** every breath, every hour has come to this  
**Summary:** Because Naruto knew this was a long time coming. Everything he witnessed with them, brought up for this precise moment.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Holding Hands.  
**Rating:** K  
**Warning(s):** None.  
**Comments:** Took me a while to come up with some kind of scenario that hadn't been done for this prompt. Obviously, I think most of you can know where this was inspired from. (If you really don't know, it's from 637 with its KakaRin moments, making the pairing possibly mutual.)

* * *

"We'll see you tomorrow morning, Kaka-sensei, Naruto!"

"I'm not your sensei anymore, Sakura…" his former teacher said, sighing.

"Yeah, and show some respect!" He grinned, laughing lightly when Sakura waved him off playfully and Sasuke muttered a quiet 'dobe'. "See ya, Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme!"

"Ja ne," Kakashi called out, eyes crinkling at the pair walking away. He turned to the man at his side. "Sakura still hasn't gotten into the habit of adding the honorific to your name, I notice."

The Rokudaime grinned. "Sakura's had a hard time seeing me as anything but her equal ever since the war," he explained. "But I don't blame her. I don't consider myself above her."

"I'm surprised you're so humble about it."

"Bah, who do you think I am, some attention-whore desperately seeking the acknowledgment of the others?"

Kakashi smiled under his mask, but there was an underlying knowingness—a sense of nostalgia. "Of course not, Hokage-sama." He looked ahead again, a certain amusement playing in his eyes. "I would have expected you to rub it in Sasuke's face, though."

Naruto's face fell. "Keh! That bastard never had manners to begin with," he grumped. "

Kakashi laughed. "You actually want him to add the honorific," he pointed out, amused.

"Sasuke only respected a handful of people in his life. I am not one of them," he huffed, shifting uncomfortably as he sensed his own lie.

"You are," Kakashi said softly.

Naruto smirked, then. "Yeah, he'll just die before he ever admits it." His eyes drew themselves to the pink haired girl who was blushing prettily as she looked at the man who held her affections. He noticed the light tinge of pink dusting the latter's cheeks. "Sakura, on the other hand…"

A soft smile reached his lips as he noticed the physical closeness between the two, and the way their hands brushed ever so lightly on occasion. There was a slight look of surprise on Sakura's face, followed by realisation, and then…

There.

There it was. That moment he'd been waiting for. That moment he'd anticipated would happen all those years ago, ever since he witnessed their emotional reunion after Sasuke had awoken from his coma.

Sakura's feelings hadn't been new; they were made painfully clear every day he saw her looking at Sasuke. Even after he deserted the village, Naruto was reminded of her unchanging feelings every time his rival's name was brought up, every time he saw her working herself to the bone—he knew Sasuke was the major reason she wanted to become stronger, he always knew.

But Sasuke's side of things, that—that was new.

The original haze of his awakening wearing off, and becoming acutely aware of the arms wrapped at the back of his neck and the face tucked in the crook of it, Sasuke's features underwent a change. There was surprise. There was confusion. And then… something completely new—something Naruto had never really seen in Sasuke yet. His face tilted to look at her, eyes trained on the crown of her pink hair and—an ambiguous tenderness.

He saw it, then. How their relationship had changed. He saw the way he looked at her, saw the potential that was there.

He saw their future together. Solely from the way Sasuke was looking at her. It was there.

He knew this was the start of their ending up together.

Six years later, and here he was—the embodiment of a wiser, more mature man who riffled through three years of agonizing search for his deserted best friend, a few traumatizing days in the Fourth Shinobi World War, a year and a half of the painful rebuilding of the Konoha Leaf Village, and these past few months in the Hokage seat, spreading peace and love and hope—watching as his two teammates—his former crush and best friend—twined their pinkies together, one looking lightly embarrassed while the other swelled with happiness and love. He had grown so much, and so had his comrades.

He'd watched them tip-toe around their relationship, going on almost-dates and sharing a few all-too-long-hugs to be considered platonic. He'd watched them fall apart, watched them come together again. He'd watched them slowly progress into their inevitable end. He was there when they finally happened—when they finally accepted the nature of their relationship.

"You think they'll be okay?" Kakashi asked, looking thoughtful as the pair finally linked their hands, Sasuke's coarse one enveloping her smaller one. He was frowning a bit, despite the glowing smile on Sakura's face and the ever so present blush on Sasuke's cheeks.

Naruto snorted. "This is Sakura and Sasuke we're talking about—they're never gonna be okay." They were gonna fight a lot, he knew. They were gonna fight and break and cuss and sweat. Because this thing between them, it had been broken by everything that happened in these four years of devastation. It was gonna be hard, it was gonna be explosive. But he watched as the couple's hands shifted so that their fingers were tightly interlocked, and he smiled softly. "They're never gonna truly be okay, but they'll be happy, Kaka-sensei. They'll be very, very happy."

He knew he was right when he saw Sasuke turn his head to the side, giving her hand a visible squeeze, before looking at her tenderly, like she was the most precious thing in this world.

* * *

**A/N**: _This is probably the roughest prompt I've ever done, I'm so sorry. I don't blame you if you thought it was odd. I originally started at "there" but then couldn't seem to add the much needed info at the end so it had to be at the beginning and AGH IT FUCKED IT ALL UP. Nonetheless, I hope it was slightly enjoyable. Lol. HAPPY SASUSAKU MONTH! MORE PROMPTS TO COME! I will try to do them all but I might skip some._

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	5. baddest baby in the atmosphere

**Title:** baddest baby in the atmosphere  
**Summary:** Deliberately seducing Sasuke without the intention of giving him any action is a bad idea. A bad, bad idea.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Lessons Learned.  
**Rating:** M  
**Warning(s):** Vague sex at the end. Dirty talk. Oh, and quite a bit of cussing. No actual sex scene, just… intense dirty talk and some sexual touching.  
**Comments:** …yeah, I had four choices for this prompt but idk this smut idea just inspired me more.

* * *

In her defense, she had to try.

Ever since they started the sexual part of their relationship, they never had spontaneous sex. It was either planned, expected (for example, upon returning from missions and not having touched each other in weeks) or part of their routine (sex was legitimately included as part of their routine on some days).

Thus, no one could blame her for wanting to spice things up a bit.

"Sasuke-kun, have you seen my black shorts?" Sakura called out in the hall, feigning her search for the piece of clothing she knew was properly tucked in her drawer.

"Hn," her boyfriend replied noncommittally, focusing on the sharpening of his beloved Kusanagi.

Sakura rolled her eyes but pursued with her plan, walking past him and into the laundry room. "Are you sure you didn't just steal them so you could see me traipsing around in just my skirt?" She faked some sort of irritating tone, here.

She heard him snort, and smirked when the sound of metal against whetstone stopped. She knew he was probably looking at her with vague annoyance. _Good_, she thought. _He needs to._

"Why would I—"

Suddenly, she bent over, pretending to look into their washing machine for her 'missing shorts' and the sound of him choking reached her ears.

_Success!_ she cheered in her mind, glad that her little plan of barely there underwear fully revealed to him because of her missing piece of clothing had worked.

"—do that?" he croaked.

Her smirk grew.

It didn't take half a minute more for him to recover from the shock. She turned around and tried to feign confusion but a little saucy smile escaped her as she saw him throw his weapon on the floor and flash-step in front of her. He growled lowly and gripped her waist possessively, but she instead smacked her forehead and told him she just remembered having washed it the night before and putting it away.

Planning on keeping him worked up so they could have hotter action later, she slipped out of his arms and walked out of the room, putting on an innocent façade. She made sure to slip out of the house as quickly as she could, all too aware of her lover staring at her from the window, his eyes narrowing as he realized she hadn't gone to put her short on at all.

He knew what she was up to.

.

.

.

He followed her out of the house. She could sense him—he wasn't even trying to mask his chakra.

Sakura nearly had the urge to laugh, but she held it back as she slipped into a shop and started browsing aimlessly, waiting until she saw Sasuke stop at the front of the store. She stole a discreet glance, her smirk coming back with a vengeance when she took in the sight of his widened eyes and lightly gaping mouth.

"Do you think Sasuke would like this?" she asked the store clerk as she held up a very flimsy piece of lingerie. "Or do you think that'd be too much?"

"I don't know miss, I mean I think he's… isn't he kind of… reserved?"

She tsk-ed, then smiled. "Not under the sheets, he isn't," she replied with a wink.

There was another cheer of triumph in her head when she looked appreciatively at the outfit, nodded to herself and made her way to the cashier's counter. She quickly paid and feigned a look of surprise when she saw Sasuke standing outside the store, evidently waiting for her but doing a poor job at hiding his ever-so-growing lust. She blushed a little at his heated gaze, but she was glad that it was helping with her innocent act.

"And I was hoping to break it in later tonight," she pouted, still blushing.

He glared, and she nearly reeled back against the intensity of it. Then, he gripped her wrist and shoved himself against her, his erection pressing directly on her groin. He backed her up slowly, keeping her body flushed against his, ignoring the obvious stares they were getting for being so publicly inappropriate.

"Don't play games with me, Sakura," he growled in her ear after he had successfully maneuvered them both in an alleyway between two stores. "If you want me to _fuck_ you, you just have to say so." He pressed himself deeper against her, making her whimper, and then grinded harshly on her core. "Don't tease me _unless you want to be taught a lesson_."

"Are you willing to be my sensei then, Sasuke?" She gasped against his ear.

She slipped her hands under his shirt and started seducing him back, trying to distract herself and refusing to lose to him now. _If anyone is losing, it's going to be him_, she decided. Just as her hands were about to dip down his pants, she unexpectedly shoved him off and dashed for it, leaving him stunned for a few moments until reality slammed back into him and made him reel. He was beyond the limits of his patience at this point.

She made sure to mask her chakra so he would have to look for her and get even more riled up doing it.

_Man, sex is gonna be so hot tonight,_ she thought, grinning to herself.

.

.

.

The last straw was at the Hokage office.

She was having a pleasant discussion with Naruto about future missions and trying to brag her way into some of the ones she liked most, when suddenly Sasuke barged into the room, looking as furious as ever.

"Sasuke-teme! What the—"

"Naruto, get the fuck out," he snarled, dangerously making his way towards Sakura, who stood frozen in front of the Rokudaime's desk. She swallowed tightly as she noticed his still raging hard-on—something Naruto had yet to notice—and the pure, unadulterated lust and anger in those _red_ eyes.

"Jesus shit teme! This is my office! You can't kick me out!" the knuckleheaded blonde shouted, gritting his teeth at the unnecessary anger and tension hovering in the office for absolutely no reason.

"Get _out_," Sasuke yelled, pointing at the door.

"Man, what the fuck! I'm not leaving you alone with Sakura—" And that was when he noticed Sasuke's 'condition'. "Oh, hell no. HELL NO. YOU ARE NOT BANGING SAKURA IN MY OFFICE, YOU SICK BASTARD! THAT IS UN—"

"GET OUT," Sasuke started, teetering on the edge of his sanity. "OR I WILL THROW YOU OUT."

"Sasuke-kun, you can't—"

He fixed her with such a heated stare that she couldn't help but to hold her breath at this point. God, he was so intense, he was going to screw her senseless—

"Don't you dare," he hissed. "Don't you dare push this off for later. This is entirely your fault—you teased me past my limit and I am not going to fucking hold back anymore. I'm going to bend you over that desk and fuck you so senseless and I'm going to make you beg—"

"OH COME ON, GUYS, I DON'T NEED THIS!" Naruto cried, making the seals for the teleportation justu. "THIS IS SO UNFAIR," were the last words heard before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"—and I'm going to make you come until you can't fucking come anymore, you hear me?" he snarled, trapping her against the desk. "I'll fuck you against that glass so that everyone can see you, I'll fuck you against that wall, I'll fuck you until you scream yourself hoarse and until you can't move a fucking muscle anymore. Then," he leaned in close, slipping off her underwear and unzipping her shirt, "after I'm all done with you, _you'll_ fuck _me_ in that very fucking chair, fulfilling at my fucking fantasies of you as my assistant."He pulled back to shove his pants and underwear off. "You asked to be taught a lesson, and I'm fucking going to teach you one."

A grunt of relief escaping as he buried himself inside of her in a solid, harsh thrust. Grasping her ass, he hoisted her onto the desk and began a merciless rhythm, smirking in triumph as he finally got to end her torturous teasing game and begin his own.

* * *

**A/N**: _just so you guys know, I don't believe they will truly need to spice things up like this. Because Sasuke is fucking intense and strikes me as the type of guy that when he gets remotely turned on, he just immediately has to take her. And he wouldn't be holding back like he's doing in this fic. They'd have the wildest sex life… I'm just saying._

_It's always fun to explore other options with them, though, haha. _

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	6. trouble that can't be named

**Title:** trouble that can't be named  
**Summary:** She sees him watching, and she can't resist teasing him.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Watching.  
**Rating:** T  
**Warning(s):** Implied masturbation at the end, but it's not an explicit mention or anything. Also, innuendo. And OOC on Sasuke's part, because real Sasuke would probably never show his embarrassment so fully.  
**Comments:** I'm in love with the idea of Sakura being aware of Sasuke watching her and she takes full power over that to rile him up. Shy!Sasuke is the best ok.

* * *

She should have probably seen it coming from him, being the silent type and all. She didn't know why she didn't. Maybe it was because she had been so distracted worrying about him before or asking him on dates that she hadn't noticed before, but when she took the time to look at him now, she realized how much time Sasuke spent looking at people.

And how much time he spent watching her.

She didn't really know what to do with that at first. She thought that perhaps she could send him a smile, but then wondered if Sasuke would like that. Perhaps he didn't want her to know he was watching her?

So Sakura settled for ignoring the matter as best she could, and trying to act as casually as possible.

But it was impossible to catch his stares, or steal glances at him only to find him already looking at her. And in those few moments she caught, she noticed something: Sasuke seemed embarrassed on some occasions. It wouldn't take much longer for her to realize that he was embarrassed because she would unintentionally do something that would turn him on.

She didn't realize how powerful of a reaction she could get from him simply by sucking juice off her finger. Or how flustered he would get every time she sparred alone, because her shirt rolled up halfway from all the twisted and turning, showing off a lot more skin than he was used to seeing.

She didn't realize how _fun_ it could all be for her, to rile up Sasuke like that. How _empowered_ it would make her feel.

So she began seeking those reactions out of him intentionally.

.

.

.

She liked playing with the zipper of her shirt, when she was around him. It was all too amusing how uncomfortable he would get.

She would touch her neck, first, rubbing the skin thoughtfully. His eyes would be draw to the movement. She would then trail her hand to her ear, massaging the lobe lightly, before trailing it back down at the base of her neck, where the zipper rested. She would play with the metal, zipping it down until it rested at the top of her breasts—her eyes would steal a sideways glance to him and detect the all too light blush on his cheeks, then she would look down and see his hands balled into fists—and then zipping it back up.

Down and up. Down and up. Again and again.

Then she would just let it go, altogether, turning her head to smile innocently at Sasuke, who in turn snapped his head away from her exposed cleavage and mumbled incoherently under his breath.

Her smile would turn devilish, but he would be too busy trying to distract himself from naughty thoughts to notice.

.

.

.

"Here again, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura sighed as she walked into the room, clicking her pen. "And I thought I told you and Naruto to lay off, for a while."

She approached the bed and fought the urge to smile, all too aware of Sasuke's eyes trailing on the length of her nurse outfit. She watched as his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

"Since when do medics wear nurse's outfits?"

"They don't," she replied, grinning since she felt a little blunt today. "But I like it. My legs look longer with it."

His eyes widened, started to drift down, before he snapped out of it and caught her gaze again. She had that knowing sparkle in her eyes and he almost cursed.

"It's a little short, don't you think?" he grunted, looking away from her. She was sure he was hiding a blush.

She smiled. "Not really. It's the same length as any other nurse's outfit." Her tone turned teasing. "Their outfit never bothered you before, so I don't see why mine should."

His head snapped to look at her, and he glared. "It doesn't."

"If you say so."

Her knowing smile returned, and it made him twitch.

Sakura then proceeded to go on with the checkup and treatment, exaggerating every move as to get him as embarrassingly nervous as possible. She loved seeing him so agitated.

Fleetingly, she wondered if he had a crush on her—the thought sent millions of butterflies in her stomach—or if he was only just then becoming aware of his hormones.

Either way, she was the one who had his completely attention, so who would she be to complain?

"Alright, you're all fixed up," she said, walking across the room with an obvious sway of her hips. She could _feel_ his stare. "I just have to fill in the rest of the chart, and then you can be on your merry way when the nurses discharge you." She leaned against the wall unnecessarily, glancing up at him with a strange gleam in her eye. The urge to smirk was almost overwhelming as pink dusted on Sasuke's cheeks again—after all, she was giving him a rather full view of her tight outfit and proving how wonderful her legs looked in it.

Instead, she held back the smirk and pursed her lips cutely, beginning to ask him questions about his health.

.

.

.

There was a catcall, and Sakura rolled her eyes, smiling lightly despite herself. "Sakura-chan, not that I'm complaining but _why are you wearing a bikini_?"

She stuck her tongue out to the blonde and grinned. "It's hot, Naruto. Thirty five degrees." She shrugged. "I'd rather not be training in this heat when I could do something _way_ better."

There was a puff of smoke, signaling Kakashi's arrival. "Sorry I'm late! There was this old lady who collapsed from the heat and—Sakura, is there a reason you're wearing that?"

The woman fiddled with the green string of her top and tried to seem shy. "Well, you see, I've been trying to get your attention for so long and—"

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto exclaimed, looking completely mortified.

He was followed by a low laugh on his former teacher's part.

"Calm down, Naruto." She giggled. "Kakashi knows I'm kidding."

The Hokage-in-training was then distracted. "Oi! There's the teme!" He ran to meet him, babbling nonsense about missions that kept Sasuke distracted from her.

"Ohayo, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said merrily, waving a hand at him to catch his attention.

She saw his mouth move to return the call, but as his eyes landed on her, all that came out was a sound that seemed like choking and an odd squawk of, "_what are you wearing_?"

"A bikini, Sasuke-kun." She put her hands on her hips and didn't miss the way his eyes followed, his cheeks flushing deeply. "It's hot and sunny and I am not going to spend this wonderful day training and getting myself _wet_ with sweat." She paused as she noticed how he tightly swallowed when she said 'wet' and grinned. "So I'm going to sunbathe!"

With those words said, Sakura turned around and skipped ahead to where she had put down her bag earlier. She stretched her arms wide and smiled up at the bright sky, before plopping down comfortably on the ground and riffling through her bag for a towel and some sunscreen. After having successfully rolled out the towel on the ground, she took the sunscreen and started applying it over her body. She stole a sideways glance to the boys who had just started training, grinning secretly to herself as she noticed how unfocused Sasuke was.

She continued applying the sunscreen over herself, taking extra care when it came to the area near her breasts, shoulders and thighs, not only to tease Sasuke but to make sure she wouldn't catch a sunburn—they hurt like hell in those areas.

She laughed melodiously as she heard Naruto yell at him, "would you focus more on me than Sakura?!"

She'd never seen Sasuke punch Naruto this hard, nor seen his ears become so red.

.

.

.

"Ow," Naruto whined, rubbing his so very sore face. Blood was gushing out of his nose like crazy, and he was pretty sure it was broken. "You prick!"

He was just about to get up and give Sasuke a taste of his own medicine before he noticed how red his rival's face was.

"Dude…" Naruto started, shaking his head in pity. "You're so into her it's almost pathetic, man."

Sasuke tried to glare at him viciously, but his embarrassment completely overshadowed his anger. "Another word, and I kill you."

"Try me."

.

.

.

Slipping another strawberry in her mouth, Sakura hummed lightly, ecstatic at the wonderful taste of her fresh berries. She licked the juices slipping down her fingers, glancing at the man beside her to find him staring back intently with heated eyes.

She smiled. "They're really good, you should have one."

"No thanks. Don't like sweet things," he muttered, tearing his gaze away from her almost shyly and directing them towards the TV instead. He ran a hand through his hair, and Sakura wondered if it was because of the humidity of this summer day, or simply because he was nervous.

She decided to test him by picking another strawberry when he looked at her again, her eyes locked with his as she took a bite and _moaned_. An immediate flustered look, furious blush, slight whimper and pulling at his collar was her response.

She smirked.

This was probably the best reaction out of him yet.

.

.

.

Later on, when she passed by the bathroom in his house, she heard panting. Curious, she stopped walking and listened. The panting became harsher, and then she heard a very deep, but stifled groan. She slapped a hand on her mouth to keep from laughing, before knocking politely at the door.

"Are you almost done, Sasuke-kun?" she asked, trying to keep the teasing tone from her voice.

There was the sound of something falling and possibly breaking, before she heard Sasuke speak up in a hoarse voice, "I'll… be out in a minute."

"Just come out when you're _finished_."

She thought of how humiliated he must have felt, and so was completely unprepared for his next words.

"Why don't you come and help me?" he growled, voice dripping with sexual invitation.

Sakura had never blushed this hard.

* * *

**A/N:** _Yep. This was fun to write, ok. I loved it, and I wish I could have added so many more moments but I felt this was sufficient. I've got more prompts to write and I really want to catch up, so yeah sadly I didn't add anything more. Maybe it's better that way, though. I like how he slowly became more and more flustered the bolder she was. hahahha! Oh, I wish real Sakura would be like that, but I think she'd be the one being teased instead of Sasuke. ;P_

_Hope you enjoyed!_

DeepPoeticGirl


	7. a road that follows to a home

**Title:** a road that follows to a home  
**Summary:** He missed out. She missed out. They both grew up too fast. But it wasn't too late to catch up.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Misspent Youth  
**Rating:** K  
**Warning(s):** Married!SasuSaku AND UCHIHA BABIES.  
**Comments:** I DON'T KNOW WHERE THIS CAME FROM BUT SASUSAKU BABIES.

* * *

He was doing it again. It was the third time this week, and she didn't understand what was wrong. When she had asked him the first two times, he had only quietly dismissed the question by telling her it was nothing. Clearly, if that nothing was bothering him frequently, it was _something_.

"Sasuke," she called softly, touching his unoccupied shoulder. Her other hand reached to stroke the fine raven hairs of their month old boy resting his head against the other shoulder. The baby made a little grunt as he saw his mother and began squirming excitedly, but Sasuke's hand rubbing comfortingly on his back lulled him back to a calmed state.

"Sasuke," she said again, rounding her husband to stand in front of him. She touches his forearm, this time. He looked down at her, revealing the weariness in his eyes, confirming to her that something was indeed bothering him. She took her face in his hands, growing more worried as he leaned into her touch and cringed. "What's wrong, Sasuke?"

He brought up his free hand to caress hers. "I've done a lot of wrong to you in the past," he murmured. "I'm sorry for that."

Sakura frowned. "We've already had this conversation, don't you remember? Years ago, when things were still rough. We fought about it. You apologized and I forgave you, Sasuke, I _forgave_ you."

He smiled a bit. "I'm not looking for forgiveness again, Sakura," he said. "I just… Looking at them, it makes me realize how much we missed out on." His gaze drifted somewhere behind her, and she understood, suddenly. "It makes me realize how I've taken away so much when I was young, and by doing so I made us all grow up too fast." The hand on hers tightened its hold, as if apologizing. "You spent your entire teenage years training under Lady Tsunade to become stronger, to catch up to Naruto and me—to be strong enough to bring me back. You missed out on your prime dating years because you were so in love with me—because no other guy could take that place in your heart."

He took a deep, slow breath. "I made you go to war and I took away all the fun you should have had. I made you miss out on _that_," he said quietly, letting go of her hand to point at their two teenage children, accompanied by their second youngest child, playing by the lake and splashing around. "Look at how happy they are."

"And look at how happy we are," she replied, not missing a beat. "Sasuke, look at how _happy_ we are." There were tears in her eyes when he looked back at her, but he took relief in realizing they were not of pain or heartbreak. They were joyful, touched. "You and I, we've been through so much but look at where we are _now_ and tell me it wasn't all worth it. Our children, our home, our village—our _life_. Tell me that a youth full of mistakes and pain and heartbreak was worth it, tell me it made it all better in the end."

The tears slipped, and she laughed. "Don't you think we know better, now? Don't you think we know how to appreciate the little things in life, to treasure every moment? Every miracle?" She brushed the back of their newborn son at those last words left, looking at that little bundle of joy with such unconditional love that it made him ache in the good way. "Because I do, Sasuke. I wouldn't go back in time and change anything. Because Itachi, Kana, Daisuke and Aiko… they probably won't know true pain until a long while, so they don't cherish their perfect youth and happiness as much as we would." She looped her arms around his waist loosely, smiling. "But we know not to take anything for granted. Especially happiness."

He embraced her, then, slipping his free arm around her and pulling her tightly to him. They were both careful as not to disturb their sleeping month old child, but he was not lost in the embrace either. Sakura lovingly stroked his back while Sasuke pressed his lips on his tiny head.

Then, he kissed his wife's temple deeply. "Thank you, Sakura. For everything."

"You're welcome," she whispered against his chest. "I was right, though… right?"

He smiled, almost secretively. "Always."

"Good!" she grinned, taking his hand. "Then let's join in on all the fun. We can put Aiko down on a blanket, and take turns playing with the kids." She gave him a squeeze. "How does that sound?"

His eyes shone with mirth. "Sounds like catching up on what we missed."

* * *

**A/N:** _Yes, Sasuke can arguably be OOC. But I find he's always talkative with Sakura and you know what, it's been like 13-15 years after the present manga time, so he's bound to have undergone some changes. Plus, I can't see Daddy!Sasuke as being anything but loving towards his kids. Because family, to him, is a treasure and something to never take for granted because even that can be taken away from you any day. SO BOOYA._

_Love ya'll, you're darlings and you make my day with your reviews. See you tomorrow! _

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	8. i will be the calm in the storm

**Title: **i will be the calm in the storm  
**Summary:** Of course the only person able to help her would be the one she was currently having issues with.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Flood  
**Rating:** K  
**Warning(s):** None.  
**Comments:** I don't know why anyone didn't do this yet? I mean come on, it's perfect!

* * *

She thought she was safe. Living on the fifth floor, there was no way silly problems like flooding of the basement, due to too much precipitation, could reach her, in her opinion. It was logical.

But then the impossible happened: her damn neighbour from upstairs left his damn bathtub open and it just so happened that it had overflowed. He didn't stop the water even after that, though, oh no! For some stupid reason, he'd left it open and _let the water flood his whole apartment floor_. Eventually the water, which had travelled all the way to his neighbours, collapsed the ceiling and created endless damage to her apartment _and_ her neighbours. She was lucky she had been working that day—she heard that there were some people who were seriously injured.

Still, it wasn't exactly a pleasant surprise to come home to, after an exhausting day of work.

"How long is this going to take?" she asked her landlord, looking as depressed as she felt.

He had just told her of the incredible damage her apartment had withstood, being directly beneath the source of the cause. Apparently she had to prepare herself to have lost more than half her things—nothing remotely comforting about that, but she remembered having a coverage plan for incidents like this. Still, she was likely going to lose a good amount of small things that couldn't be covered, like clothes, food, and her precious music CD's.

_And I just did my groceries yesterday, how unfair is that!_ she whined in her thoughts, hunching her shoulders.

"Couple weeks, maybe," the man replied, looking apologetic. "It's hard to tell—they haven't finished assessing the damage yet."

"Weeks?" Sakura groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Damnit, I don't have enough money to spend that long in a hotel…"

"I'm sorry Sakura. The best I could do for you is try to bargain with some of the owners I know. Otherwise," he patted her shoulder, then, "I think you should ask one of your friends to take you in."

"Alright," she said, sighing. "Thanks. Keep me updated on those negotiations, ne?"

He smiled. "Of course, Sakura."

.

.

.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Wish I was, Sakura," the fifth Hokage replied, drinking her cup of sake before refilling it again. "But unfortunately, I'm not. Most of the Konoha Eleven have been sent on various missions, a few days ago."

"And _why_ is that?"

"The village has been under severe reconstruction, as you know, and we've had issues with neighbouring countries upon the decision of Sasuke Uchiha's reinstatement as a Konoha nin. The Konoha Eleven have been sent to negotiate and/or resolve conflict pacifically, as not to rise tensions again." She paused, drinking her second cup of sake, before resuming her explanation. "You know just as well as me that they are the most efficient in resolving issues concerning Sasuke because they were the most involved with him. They don't pretend to know Sasuke as well as you and Naruto do, but they do know a fair deal."

Sakura nodded, but her fists tightened as she realized that she should have been sent on one of those missions—after all, the Hokage said so herself: she and Naruto knew Sasuke better than anyone else.

Tsunade seemed to catch on. "You are most needed at the hospital, Sakura. Your skills are uncanny and your reserve of chakra is impeccable. The survivors of the Fourth Shinobi World War are in desperate need of your medical attention, at the moment. Diseases and infections seem to be spreading much too fast these days, as you probably know." There was a momentary silence, before the Hokage added, "We are also running very low on medical staff. You're worth at least twenty of our best medics."

There was a sigh of defeat, followed by a nod of acknowledgement. "You're right," Sakura said. "I'm sorry for being selfish."

Honey colored eyes softened. "You love him," she said gently. "It's only natural you want to do everything you can for him."

"And yet," the other replied, features suddenly depicting a great sadness, "And yet I can't talk to him. We haven't talked to each other since the war ended, not truly. It's been… _edgy_ between us."

"Maybe this could be the ideal occasion."

.

.

.

She was incredibly nervous as she stood in front of his apartment. She lied when she told Tsunade she and Sasuke hadn't talked since the war—they _had_ talked, but the conversations hadn't exactly ended well. They were either terribly awkward, one-sided, or incredibly tense. They had yet to have the discussion with Naruto pertaining to apologies and explanations, since they were so busy with the rebuilding of the village, and it took a toll on their relationship.

Sakura wanted so badly to work things out between them, but not having Naruto at her side while she confronted Sasuke about something so serious—and which concerned all of them, to be honest—wasn't the most reassuring idea.

So she let life take its course. And she let her relationship with him get tenser, uncomfortable.

_Can't believe I'm going to do this,_ she thought to herself, cringing. _But I don't really have a choice now, do I?_

She knocked.

He opened the door a few seconds later, his eyes widening momentarily, as if it was the greatest surprise she was here.

"Sakura," he acknowledged, nodding in greeting. His eyebrows creased slightly in confusion, and she knew that was his cue to her to explain herself.

Her shoulders slumped. "My apartment got destroyed by a flood. The whole building is on shutdown, actually." She gave him a tiny and uneasy smile and looked at him with imploring eyes. "So… can I stay over for the next couple of weeks?"

She found herself to be completely surprised when he didn't even hesitate to open his door the moment she finished speaking.

"Come on," he grunted when she simply stood there, doe-eyed.

"You… You don't mind?" she asked, unable to refrain herself from blushing.

"Should I?"

"I…" She trailed out, pausing, before smiling softly. "No. No, you shouldn't," she said, stepping into his home when he opened the door wider.

Maybe that awkwardness and anxiousness was all in her head? It seemed Sasuke was under the impression that they were on relatively good terms—otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to let her stay so quickly. But wasn't that a bit… extreme, even for him? There were things he could hold against her, and a lot more she could hold—well, she did, actually—against him.

A thought crossed her mind, then_. Is Sasuke-kun looking to be alone with me?_ She thought about the times she ran into him, the times he looked as though he was about to say something only for her to basically run out on him. She thought about the times they talked, and realized they had never been just the two of them during those times. _Was Sasuke-kun looking for a private conversation?_ She thought about the times he showed up at her office for no particular reason, standing around and looking at her medical books, asking off-handed questions but not really saying anything of much importance. Sometimes, he'd seem a little frustrated when he left, and she realized that perhaps he was irritated by her lack of response. _Was Sasuke-kun… trying to bond with me again? Was he mad that I couldn't catch on?_

She smiled. _Sasuke-kun, you are so strange. But at least you're trying._

* * *

**A/N:** _Lame ending is lame. I also think the whole thing was pretty weird. Does the story flow together well or is it weird? Please tell me, it's nagging at me. I wanted to add more, but then I just thought fuck it. Ya'll spoiled lately because of the SSMonth!_

_Just a heads up that every day I do a prompt, they will most likely be up in the evening. I spend my afternoons either doing errands or house chores, and then watching movies/tv shows. After dinner it's my prime time to write. :D So my submissions are likely rarely ever gonna be in the afternoon, much less morning (I'M A SLEEPER YO)._

_I had fun with this one though! Hope it was equally as fun to read. ;)_

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	9. i must insist that you havent had enough

**Title: **I must insist that you haven't had enough  
**Summary:** At first she thought they were in love, because they acted like her Oka-san and Otou-san. But then he brainwashed her. Gasp!  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Baby-sitting  
**Rating:** T  
**Warning(s):** Implied sex.  
**Comments:** ONLY RATED T BECAUSE OF THE IMPLIED SEX TALK BUT OTHERWISE THIS IS ENTIRELY RATED K.

* * *

"Oka-san?"

"Yes, Akemi-chan?"

The little six year old child waited until her mother turned to face her before she fidgeted and said, "I don't think you should ask Sasuke-san and auntie Sakura to babysit me and Kaoru-chan anymore."

Ino's smile vanished, taken aback by the certainty in her daughter's tone. She frowned in confusion and gently urged her to explain.

"I think they hate each other, Oka-san."

Ino's eyebrows shot up in pure surprise. "What makes you say that, Akemi-chan?"

"Well…"

.

.

.

"_What are __**you**__ doing here?"_

_Akemi smiled as she recognized the voice of the all-too-pretty Uchiha and cracked the door of the kitchen open a bit. The smile disappeared as she took in his unhappy features. Why was Uchiha-san mad?_

_Aunt Sakura, who was standing near the kitchen counter, raised a brow and scoffed, bouncing the little two year old boy in her arms gently while she patted his blonde head. "What a nice greeting, Sasuke. Your lovely words rattle my bones with affection."_

"_Sakura..."_

_Her aunt rolled her eyes, reaching for one of the sliced apple pieces she had cut earlier and offering it to her baby brother, who happily accepted the fruit. "I'm babysitting this little guy," she finally said. "Ino doesn't trust you with him. Says you scare him." She turned her head to look at Uchiha-san, saw him glaring at her, and gave him a knowing look. "Wonder why that is."_

"_**Sakura**__."_

"_I remember my own name, thank you."_

"_Stop being so annoying," he hissed, striding across the room angrily. "I'm here to babysit Ino's kid, where is she?"_

_Sakura glared at him. "I'm not letting you see her until you calm the hell down. It's a wonder how you're allowed near kids when all you do is scare them and make them cry!"_

"_Shut up!"_

"_What, it's true!"_

"_Shut. __**Up**__."_

"_Make me!"_

_Uchiha-san and auntie Sakura glared intensely at each other, both gritting their teeth by the look of their tense jaws, and Akemi smiled secretively—she had seen her Oka-san and her Otou-san bicker like this all too many times before. Oka-san always told her it was because they loved each other a lot._

"_Auntie Sakura," Akemi called as she finally entered the room, crossing her arms behind her cutely. She waited until both adults broke off their glaring contest and greeted her, one moodily and the other happily, before she said, "I thought you told me everything, auntie Sakura! Why is it that I didn't know you and Uchiha-san were lovers?"_

"_WE ARE NOT!" they both yelled at the same time, before looking up at each other in shock. Then, the glaring came back, and they stomped off towards different rooms, Sakura carrying Akemi's baby brother while Sasuke took Akemi._

.

.

.

Ino scoffed, making a humming noise that sounded oddly like agreement. "They do that all the time, Akemi-chan. They don't hate each other—"

"But it gets worse!"

Baby blue eyes softened. "Alright then," she sighed, smiling. "Go on."

.

.

.

"_Sasuke, pray tell, what are you doing?"_

_Akemi winced when she recognized the saccharine sweet tone auntie Sakura used, mostly towards Naruto, when she found someone doing something she didn't like. _

_Uchiha-san raised a brow, a hand still buried in the jar. "Giving Akemi cookies," he answered all too plainly. "What else?"_

"_Sasuke, what did I tell you?" That tone was still there. "No sweets until after dinner, Ino's orders."_

"_So?"_

_As soon as Akemi saw Sasuke rolling his eyes, she prepared herself for some more yelling._

"_UCHIHA SASUKE, YOU INSENSITIVE PRICK."_

"_WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME YOU CONNIVING BI—"_

"_LANGUAGE, UCHIHA, AKEMI-CHAN IS STANDING RIGHT THERE."_

"_I WAS GONNA SAY BIMBO, YOU STUPID—"_

"_WHAT. DID. YOU. JUST—"_

_The yelling ensued for several more minutes before Uchiha-san suddenly decided it was inappropriate to be acting as such in front of Akemi. He took auntie Sakura by the wrist and angrily tugged her towards the next room, closing the door._

_It only took a few minutes before auntie Sakura slammed the door open again, red-faced, and stormed outside. Akemi concluded Uchiha-san must have won the fight because he was smirking when she asked him._

.

.

.

"And they kept yelling and yelling all day, at every chance they got," Akemi said, frowning. "They kept fighting about stuff that was really not im-import—ant." She scrunched her nose. "Im-por-tant."

Ino giggled a bit at the struggle her daughter was having with the word. "That, Akemi-chan, is what I like to call 'happy tension'. Your auntie and Sasuke-san have had it for _years_ now."

Akemi looked at her with her big, blue curious eyes. "But why do you call it happy ten-sion when they are so mean to each other all the time?"

"Because once they resolve that tension, they'll be very happy." She grinned to herself, thinking of an entirely different 'happy' than her daughter was. "But that won't be for a while now, probably. They need to accept it first."

"How can they ac-accept it, Oka-san? Can we help them ac-accept it?"

Her mother smiles gently. "No, Akemi-chan. They've got to do that on their own."

"Do you think maybe Uchiha-san is not ready to ac-accept it?"

"That's a strange thing to say. Why would you ask that?"

"Because I think Uchiha-san used his sharin—" The little girl paused, grimaced, then went on, "Sha-rin-gan on auntie Sakura and made her forget." There was another pause, as if she was considering something. Then, she looked up and frowned worriedly at her mother. "They hit each other today, Oka-san. Or at least, I think so." At the astonished look her mother gave her, she nodded thoroughly. "I know! I think auntie Sakura knew he was going to make her forget!"

"Did you see it, Akemi-chan?" The older woman asked, sounding frantic while she grasped her child's arms firmly. "Tell me, what happened? What did you see?"

"Well, it happened when they were fighting again…"

.

.

.

"_Why is it so hard to get it through your head?!"_

"_Because you're not making any sense!"_

"_How could I be any clearer?!"_

"_I don't know, maybe explain it?!"_

"_Auntie Sakura…"_

_Her little call went unheard, and Akemi stood unsurely a few feet away from the two bickering adults._

"_UGH YOU ARE SO INFURIATING!"_

"_YEAH? WELL YOU'RE THE MOST ANNOYING GIRL EVER."_

"_I'M NOT A GIRL YOU THICKHEAD I'M A WOMAN."_

_Uchiha-san smirked, then, and opened his mouth to say something but Akemi cut in by calling out again, in a louder tone, "Auntie Sakura!"_

_Said girl turned to look at her after she had glared at Sasuke one last time. "What is it, Akemi-chan?"_

"_Kaoru-chan is sleeping, isn't he?"_

_Her aunties eyes widened and she groaned before smacking her forehead. "Damnit, I forgot… could you check if he's awake, Akemi-chan? Sasuke and I need to finish talking…"_

_Akemi blinked, brushing brown locks out of her face, and stood there for a moment unsure of leaving the two alone. But then she nodded, trusting auntie Sakura to handle herself, and left the room._

_She took her time going to her little brother's room, padding the hallway quietly and keeping her ears perked up. She thought she heard Uchiha-san say something along the lines of, "A woman, huh? Guess you'll have to prove that to me." But she wasn't too sure._

_The pictures of her Oka-san and Otou-san on the wall distracted her, then, and made her smile. She liked looking at them when they were fighting really badly, it reminded her of the love they shared._

_When she reached Kaoru-chan's room, she made sure to stay extra quiet. She quietly proceeded to the crib and looked over the bars, smiling when she saw him sleeping soundly. Grinning, she made her way out of the room just as quietly and made her way back, but the sound of heavily labored breathing stopped her. She stopped at the corner of the door and listened._

"_Enough proof, Sasuke?" she heard auntie Sakura taunt with difficulty, sounding breathless. Akemi only heard her auntie like this when she was finished sparring, and concluded in horror that she and Uchiha-san had been fighting each other physically._

"_Shut up," Uchiha-san growled, sounding in pain. "You're so freaking annoying."_

"_Make me," her auntie challenged, still having difficulty breathing. And then, "Sasuke—oh god! Put that thing away, you know that I can't—"_

"_No."_

_There was rustling of clothes and other sounds like slapping and grunts and Akemi gasped as she realized that they were still fighting!_

_A loud scream from her auntie confirmed her suspicions and Akemi thought she should intervene but then Uchiha-san let out another sound of pain and she cheered within herself, happy that Sakura had retaliated._

_Akemi then mentally prepared herself for facing Uchiha-san in case he wanted to fight Sakura some more, but a few minutes later when she entered the kitchen, she found herself to be incredibly surprised—and confused—when she saw auntie Sakura glowing with happiness and seemingly untouched. When she looked at Uchiha-san, her eyes narrowed in suspicion when she saw his sharingan activated._

"_Akemi!" Auntie Sakura exclaimed, turning red all of a sudden. "When did you get here?"_

"_You guys shouldn't be fighting in the kitchen, Sakura-nee-chan! Oka-san wouldn't like it!"_

"_Fighting?" Her auntie was confused, for a moment. Then she gasped in horror and turned to look at Sasuke, looking like she was about to say something before Sasuke beat her to it._

"_Noted," he said, addressing Akemi. Then, he looked at Sakura as well and smirked. "We'll just take it outside, next time."_

.

.

.

"Do they hate each other Oka-san?" Akemi asked as she finished? "Is Uchiha-san evil? Does he enjoy bringing pain to auntie Sakura? Did he brainwash her? He did, didn't he?" Her lower lip quivered, like she was about to cry. "I want to talk to Naruto-sama and put him in _jail_!"

Ino wasn't listening anymore though, she was too flabbergasted. Then, realization hit her in the face.

And then,

Anger.

Akemi had never seen her mother pick up her phone so fast or dial that furiously, and she thought perhaps her mother would do exactly as she asked but was only dumbfounded when he mother yelled, "FOREHEAD, WHY IS IT THAT I LEARN FROM MY DAUGHTER THAT YOU ARE HAVING SEX WITH SASUKE UCHIHA, HUH? WHY IS IT THAT MY OWN BEST FRIEND DIDN'T TELL ME? EXPLAIN YOURSELF THIS INSTANT."

Akemi was confused.

.

.

.

"Daddy, what's sex?"

* * *

**A/N**: _Quick note to say that the last drabble WILL be continued. My suspicions were confirmed, it looks odd and starts strongly for nothing. When it will be continued is a question of time, I guess. I'll just need one or two prompts more to wrap it up._

_As for this drabble… IT WAS FUN OKAY. I think it's my favorite so far. I kept laughing thinking about what I was going to write, because WOULD YOU IMAGINE? Nonetheless, obviously I don't think that would happen (I don't see them fighting this much at all) unless Sakura was pregnant and, you know, HORMONES. I can't ever see Sasuke yelling like that though. But isn't it fun to imagine them this way? Teehee._

_See you tomorrow! _

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	10. i could be your perfect disaster

**Title: **i could be your perfect disaster  
**Summary:** He never thought he'd do it. He never wanted to. But he did it anyway.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** The Deep End  
**Rating:** T  
**Warning(s):** LOTS of angst. Swearing. Reference to suicide.  
**Comments:** Creyz because I don't know what's wrong with me to put them in more pain when they've already had enough.

* * *

He knew he'd be lying if he said he didn't know why the whole thing started. He thought it was a good idea, to rebuild his old home and start anew—he thought it would help to forget the bad memories by replacing them with happier ones. But everything went to shit when he moved in: civilians disgracing the walls and Uchiha emblems, writing things like "murderer" and "psychopath", horrifying flashbacks crashing back into him as he entered the room his parents were killed in—flashbacks which gave him vicious nightmares for the next few days until he was borderline insane with grief. And not to forget the truths of what the elders did slamming back into him every time a fond family memory resurfaced.

They drove him mad. They made him feel like an eight year old again—like the wound of his family's tragedy was still fresh, like it had just happened to him all over again. He was so far gone in grief, so numbed out by the pain that he hadn't even realized he'd taken a kunai out and nicked his wrist's main artery until he saw all the blood gushing out, several minutes later. He was so overwhelmed in sorrow that he hadn't even realized he wanted to take his own life.

This is what Sakura walked in on, smiling and cheery, with a basket of fresh tomatoes in her hand.

He would never, ever forget the way her smile broke when she saw him lying there against the wall in a puddle of his own blood, eyes widening in realization as she saw his hand over his bleeding wrist with a kunai at his side, his skin sickly white and eyes lulling shut. He would never, ever forget the anguished scream that left her mouth, the way she desperately scrambled to reach him, the way she yelled profanities at him for being so stupid. Most of all, he would never, _ever_ forget the way she looked at him as she worked his wound, like she was losing her entire world in front of her very eyes in that one, single desperate moment.

It was the most heartbreaking thing he'd ever seen.

"Sakura," he rasped, wanting to wipe the tears away from her face but finding himself unable to move any of his limbs. "Sakura, I'm sorry." He didn't know why he was apologizing to her, he didn't know what he was doing anymore. Didn't know what he was thinking anymore. _I'm sorry,_ his mind whispered, despite himself. _I'm so sorry._

"Don't talk, you idiot!" She was frantic and scared, he could tell by the abnormally high pitch of her voice and the way sobs tore from her throat afterwards. Her hands were slick and red with his blood and she was shaking like a leaf, terrified of what might happen to him. "You are not dying on me now, Sasuke Uchiha! You are not dying on me now, you prick! Naruto and I went through hell and back to bring you back, _you are not dying on me now_!"

The way she was yelling desperately at him, like losing him was the worst thing that could happen to her, made his sluggishly beating heart ache in the sweetest way. _She loves me,_ he realized._ After all this time, she still loves me more than anything. _He didn't know what he wanted to do, then: He wanted to smile, because she still loved him and god it felt so _good _to know he had always been good enough to love; but he also wanted to cry because she was losing her most important person and he knew by experience that the pain was unbearable _and it was all his fault_.

"I…" He had to stop to cough, before wheezing painfully and panting desperately, trying to catch as much air as possible. Why was it so hard to breathe? Was his body failing him already?

_I'm sorry, Sakura. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. _He thought, looking at her through bleary eyes. _ I wasn't thinking. I didn't want to do this. I never wanted to be a coward. I never wanted to leave you guys. _He blinked, trying to clear his vision, and felt a sense of relief when he succeeded. She looked so beautiful, crying over him like that. Like she needed him to the very last. His eyes felt too heavy, then, and he let them fall shut. He was too exhausted to fight back. _Thank you, Sakura. For making me feel needed, for making me feel like I could have lived a life without revenge and still have had a purpose. Thank you._

He waited for the blackness to overtake him, waited for death to claim him.

But it never did.

.

.

.

He didn't know how much time he spent there, unable to move a muscle and waiting for eternal sleep to steal him away—it could have been a minute, an hour, half a day. But slowly, steadily, his mind cleared itself. His heart slowly picked up its pace again.

Sasuke, still sluggish but feeling a little bit more energized, snapped his eyes open and took a generous gulp of hair, his chest jolting forward in shock. He didn't even have the time to take in anything before he felt thin arms tightening their hold on his neck and became aware of the dampness on his shoulder and Sakura's soft sobbing. His eyes softened.

"Sakura…" he croaked, swallowing tightly as his tongue felt sluggish. He tried to pull her away so he could look at her, but she only clung to him harder while making a small cry of negation. "Sakura, it's… it's okay," he said hoarsely, resting his weak arms on her waist. She didn't respond, and he waited a bit until he had a little more strength.

"I'm fine," he whispered reassuringly, turning his head in her direction. "I'm okay."

She snapped away from him, suddenly, looking at him with angry, tearful eyes. "No, you're not," she spat, wiping the tears falling down her cheeks and grasping the front of his shirt tightly in one fist. "You're _not_ fucking okay, Sasuke-kun, you just tried to kill yourself!" She yanked him forward until his nose was up to hers, but the fury she was trying to keep up was slowly cracking away, leaving devastation in its place. "You tried to _kill_ yourself," she said in a terribly broken voice. Her grip loosened, until she let him go and let him sag against the wall again.

"You're not okay, Sasuke-kun, you're not okay…" she whispered, burying her face in her hands and trying—but not succeeding—not to cry again. The last thing she wanted to do was to be weak in front of him, but the knowledge that he tried to commit suicide was still wracking her entire body and every time she thought about the fact he almost died, on her watch no less, she could barely keep herself from crumbling down.

Not being able to bear seeing her so broken anymore, Sasuke reached out with shaking arms and used whatever little strength he had to pull her against him. She gasped, body stiff with shock. Then, he buried his nose in her hair and loosely held his arms around her shoulders, a light smile trying to make its way to his lips when he felt her relax against him.

"I never meant to do it," he told her quietly, after a while, lips moving against the crown of her head. "I didn't know what I was doing—it I had been aware, I wouldn't have done it." His voice was stronger now, almost like he was desperate for her to know the truth.

Sakura wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, at that moment. "But you still did it," she said softly, twisting her head up to look at him with puffy eyes. "You still did it, Sasuke-kun. That means a part of you, however small it was, wanted to do it."

There was a sigh, long and shaky and terrified. "That scares me, Sasuke-kun," she started, hugging him tighter. "Because it tells me you might do it again."

Those words hit him like a punch in the gut. He was silent, astonished.

Then...

"I won't," he finally said, his voice shaking. He held her tighter and closed his eyes, shoving his face in her hair again. "I swear I won't."

"_I don't want you to ever feel this way again,"_ he thought. _"I don't want you to live with this kind of pain."_

He hadn't realised he'd spoken the words aloud until he felt Sakura smile against him.

* * *

**A/N**:_ Would you laugh if I told you that originally, my idea for this prompt was a drabble of AUCollege! Sasuke realizing he is head over ass in love with Sakura, Naruto teasing him about it, and Sakura being as oblivious as ever? Because that's totally what my plan was. Then I brainstormed other ideas like I usually do and THIS LITTLE SHIT CAME UP AND DESTROYED MY HEART so I had to write it. This prompt evidently goes with the whole idea of Sasuke being so deeply in that Deep End of his life that he decides to quit, unconsciously. And his body acts on it._

_I don't think Sasuke would ever be the type to truly want to commit suicide, because he is such a stubborn guy and wants to change the ways of the village to have his clan and brother recognized truly, but I wanted to portray that even the most stubborn, strongest of people can have slips when they are so overwhelmed in anguish that they don't even know what they're doing anymore. Because damn does that shit happen fast._

_Anyway, I'm sorry if I made anyone cry! I do hope you enjoyed, though! I did give them a happy ending. :)_

_Love you all, see you tomorrow!_

DeepPoeticGirl


	11. everything changes but beauty remains

**Title: **everything changes but beauty remains  
**Summary:** Sakura never realized how much Sasuke let her get away with until she lived with him.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Accidents Happen  
**Rating:** K  
**Warning(s):** OOC a little, probably?  
**Comments:** CONTINUATION OF DAY 5 (Flood).

* * *

The building had sustained too much damage, apparently. They had to take down most of it on the damaged floors, and the reconstruction was proving to be incredibly complicated. What was first an estimation of a couple of weeks turned into a couple months, which then turned into half a year. She was surprised when Sasuke told her she could stay, as they were moving whatever the workers saved from her apartment down to his. She told him she would think about it, but really she was thinking she would probably be better off with Ino or Naruto—Sasuke would probably get annoyed with her pretty quickly, she concluded. And then he'd probably be a prick to her so she'd eventually leave by herself and he wouldn't have to feel back about kicking her out.

But Sasuke was a pleasant person to live with, much to her surprise. He cleaned up after himself, never snored in the night, never made a noise in the morning when he woke up, always put the toilet seat back down—he had only ever left it up the first few days she moved in, out of habit of living alone—without her having to ask him to, never let his wet towels lying around the bathroom floor, and occasionally he would prepare coffee before or after her shifts, despite the fact he never drank any.

At first, Sasuke didn't want her to be doing house chores, either. Something about her being basically a guest in his house, and to him 'guests did not do house chores'. She started doing them anyway, much to his annoyance. Despite not being happy about it, he gave up reprimanding her pretty quickly. Now, nearly five weeks later, he hardly bothered her when she did laundry for him or found her vacuuming the floors. In fact, Sakura noticed that he seemed to have grown used to it—that it had become normalcy to him.

On some days, she couldn't help but to think of how they lived in a similar way couples did, and it made her belly flip anxiously. She blushed as she remembered the all-too-common times she had fallen asleep on her desk working on hospital research and legal papers, only to wake up the next morning safely tucked inside her bed. Sakura was by no means a light sleeper but she was sure that being picked up would have woken her up, and the fact that it hadn't meant that Sasuke was always particularly gentle as he put her to bed.

The way he got off the couch without hesitance or lingering when she asked for his help, how he never asked for money back and often tended to refuse when she offered to pay, and also how he bought her favorite food when he went grocery shopping without her having to ask him were all moments that reminded her all too well of a couple's behavior.

Oh, there was also one last thing: he let her get away with basically anything.

Not that she took advantage of that, of course, but it was an odd behavior for him considering his hot-blooded and impatient persona.

.

.

.

The first time she thought Sasuke would get mad at her, it was when she took one of his family pictures off the wall to examine it, only to lose her grip on the frame and drop it on the floor, effectively breaking it, as Sasuke called her name and scared her out of her wits. The way his eyes widened and narrowed fractionally for one single second, before his trademark boredom slipped back, made her body stiffen in horror. She ground her teeth in worry, waiting for him to explode—but nothing.

"You're not angry?" she had asked him, her voice noticeably an octave higher than usual. She winced as Sasuke noticed the change and raised an eyebrow.

"No, I'm not," he eventually answered, looking at her almost suspiciously. "Accidents happen, Sakura. Besides," he drawled, crouching down and carefully brushing the broken glass away from the picture, before he gently took it and straightened himself back up again. He looked at it, for a moment, fingers tracing his mother's figure fondly. Then, he looked at the woman in front of him, eyes soft. "You didn't rip the picture, did you?"

He looked so pleased—it was a rare sight to see. "No," she finally replied, a smile gracing her lips. "No, I didn't."

"Then no, I'm not mad." He looked down at the mess between them. "It's just a frame, Sakura. Frames can always be replaced."

She was shocked at his complete nonchalance, and how he didn't even seem remotely annoyed. If Naruto would have broken it, she was sure his reaction would be entirely different. "Ah—of course," she mumbled, blushing. "I'm glad I didn't damage it. Your family picture, I mean."

He nodded. "Just give me a new frame and clean up your mess," he said with the lightest tinge of amusement. "And I'll pretend it never happened."

Sakura nodded, too, mouth tightening in determination. "Of course!" she said, giving him a resolved look. "I'll buy you a new one! A really nice one too! I swear!"

He gave her something like a half smile—barely even there, really—and tapped the photo almost nervously against his hand, before he turned around and walked out of the room, slipping his precious memento in his pocket with great care. A silly blush carefully slipped onto her determined face as she watched him.

.

.

.

The second time she thought he would be mad, she had spilt ramen all over his couch. She winced when Sasuke sprung from the couch, expecting him to scoff or growl or do _something_ unhappy, only to have the surprise of her life and when he simply chuckled—chuckled? Since when did Sasuke _chuckle_?—and made his way to the kitchen, saying, "I'll get us cloths and some cleaning products. We might spend a while on that one."

"How do you know?" she had asked him, suspicious all of a sudden.

"The idiot spilt ramen once, and I was the one left to clean it up," he replied. But the lack of annoyance and presence of a certain embarrassed twinkle in his eyes told her that it wasn't Naruto who had accidentally stained his couch.

"Accidents happen," Sakura muttered to herself, smiling.

She was certainly learning a lot from him, but she knew Sasuke far too well to know that had Naruto really been the one who spilt ramen on his couch, that day, Sasuke would have made him scrub at it all night all by himself.

.

.

.

The third time, she broke his kunai during an all too rough spar. She didn't think much of it until she noticed the Uchiha emblem carved into the handle. Gasping, her head snapped to look at him and she cringed when she saw him grumbling to himself, seemingly irritated.

"I'm so sorry!" she quickly said, bowing her head low. "It wasn't my intention!"

"What are you talking about?" came Sasuke's gruff voice. He really did seem disgruntled.

"Your kunai!"

There was a mild pause. "…what about it."

She narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth. "Don't play dumb with me!" she said. "It's broken!"

"I see that, Sakura." He paused. "Accidents happen."

It took her a few seconds to realize that his annoyance was gone.

Slowly, almost hesitantly, her head tipped up in his direction. She blinked when she noticed he only seemed mildly confused. "If you're not…" She paused. "Why were you mad earlier?"

Sasuke went defensive. "I wasn't mad," he retorted, crossing his arms. She gave him a pointed look and he scoffed. "I was mildly irritated."

"Why?"

He looked away, refusing to answer.

Sakura bit her lip. "Because I broke your special kunai?" she asked, a little gentler this time.

He looked at her weird, before muttering, "Special kunai? What makes you think it was special?"

"Because on the handle, there was the Uchiha emblem." She was beginning to get a little confused, now, from Sasuke's growing perplexity and lack of anger. Hadn't she just destroyed what could have been the only kunai he had kept from his clan? "I thought it was important to you."

There was a shift at Sasuke's mouth, like he wanted to smile and had trouble keeping it at bay. "Sakura, I carve the emblem myself every time I buy a new set. It's nothing."

Sometimes Sakura wondered if Sasuke was just being too nice to her because he had a soft spot for her or something. Because really, not one once of irritation that she broke a kunai he must have spent an hour carving his clan emblem on? If it would have been anyone else, he would have given them the silent treatment no question.

"It's not like you _meant_ to break it," Sasuke added, rolling his eyes at her while they were collecting their things.

Well, that was true.

.

.

.

She was dead. She was _dead_. She was _so dead_.

Getting angry with his sink was one thing. _Breaking_ his sink after she got angry with it, that was another. But this… this was not going to stand with him.

Oh _god_, she was _so dead_.

"I'm so sorry," Sakura said again, a furious blush on her cheeks. "Oh my god, Sasuke, I am _so_ sorry—"

"Stop saying you're sorry," Sasuke growled out, gritting his teeth. His back was turned away from her as he sat on the ground and rubbed his sore head. "I already said _it's fine_. Accidents happen."

Sakura bit her lip and blushed deeper, recalling what had just happened moments ago.

She had been desperately trying to stop the water from spraying everywhere immediately after she'd broken the sink, and had resorted to calling out Sasuke, who was in the basement likely doing some reading on his clan's jutsus, for help. He had quietly come up the stairs and walked in, completely unprepared, on a beginning of a flood in his kitchen.

"What happened?" he had asked, astonished and _not one bit infuriated at the state of his kitchen_.

"It's my fault!" She had to yell, due to the loud noise of the water spurting furiously. "I got angry with it!"

"You got angry with it?" She hadn't heard him this amused since they were kids, laughing and scheming to trap their teacher into revealing his face.

"Of course I got angry with it! You have the stupidest sink in the world!"

"Just because you can't understand how to switch types of pressure, doesn't mean that it's complicated."

"Oh shut up and help me—"

A gasp cut her off as she slipped on the water, having been too busy arguing with Sasuke to adjust her chakra to fit the changing flow of the flood, and grasped the closest thing to her… which turned out to be her distraction. Out of pure instinct, Sasuke shifted his position so he could take the brunt of the fall, adjusting his arms around her to hold her tightly.

And then, their lips collided. A bit brutally, to be honest, but it was an accidental kiss nonetheless. One that made her scramble off of him when she had realized in what position they were in, too frantic to have noticed the way Sasuke's hand had been reaching to grasp the back of her neck.

They looked at each other, then, breath knocked out of their lungs and disbelief written all over their faces. Trying to take in what just happened between them. Completely unaware of the water continuously running, starting to flood the dining room.

And then Sasuke abruptly turned his back to her and buried his face in his hands, clearing his throat a few times as if this was the most awkward moment of his life.

Thus began the endless deluge of apologies, which led to their current situation.

"I'm really sorry I kissed you, Sasuke-kun…"

"Would you stop saying that?!" Sasuke finally snapped, turning his head to look at her with an emotion that startled her

_He's embarrassed?_ Sakura realized, catching her breath. She caught the way his ears were colored a deep red, next, and how agitated he seemed overall.

"Oh my god," she said, after being hit by another realization. "Oh my god was that—"

"I'm going to shut the water!" Sasuke interrupted, stalking off towards his backyard, while his face was flushing a shade deeper.

Oh my god.

Sasuke had never kissed a girl before.

* * *

**A/N:** _Sorry this didn't come out sooner, it came out way longer than I originally intended. That, and my stupid internet could not stop disconnecting (way too much interference in my room these days, it seems) and I couldn't upload it. Ugh._

_And to anyone who is asking, yes this will be continued again. I'm suspecting two more prompts. Obviously things are going to change between them! After Sakura is beginning to wonder what she really means to Sasuke, and after having just kissed him, their relationship are going to take a little tip._

_I hope this lived up to the first prompt, too. Like, I hope it was a good follow-up and not something that seems off-tangent._

_See you tomorrow, hopefully! Let's hope my internet doesn't act stupid again._

_P.s. if you see any mistakes, please try to ignore them. I'll go through the drabbles when I'm done with the month and fix em' all. But you can point them out to me if you want to._

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	12. you're still the best more or less

**Title: **you're still the best… more or less.  
**Summary: **For someone who had a tragic past and spent most of his teenage years in underground lairs, this fear was unexpected.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Bugs  
**Rating:** T  
**Warning(s):** OOC Sasuke because obviously Kishi ain't courageous enough to make him scared of a _bug_. Oh, and swearing. A lot.  
**Comments:** Don't even ask. Also, this is quite short. Only rated T because there's a lot of swearing (don't read if it really bothers you). And for some very vague reference to sex once.

* * *

Okay, so here's the thing: Sasuke is a neat freak.

No surprise there, right? I mean, someone who looks as good as he does—clean shaven, well-tended hair, nice skin, and ironed clothes—would obviously have an equally good looking and healthy house, right? He's always pretty been strict about his hygiene and keeping his house spotless.

And then he visited Naruto's apartment, when he came back, and he changed—badly.

I don't know what the hell he saw in there, but ever since that day Sasuke has been a total freaking _anal_ neat freak. Barking orders to clean up after myself because dirtiness was not tolerable—to which I simply complied without much fuss, thinking he'd had a bad day—and throwing tantrums when he spotted food crumbs and dirty dishes on the counter—which I ignored, thinking he had been having a bad _week_.

For two weeks, I endured this kind of behavior. For two weeks, I made excuses.

But there was a _goddamn limit_.

"Tell me you're joking."

Sasuke glares, gritting his teeth. "No, I'm not. It's the truth, Sakura."

That little fucking—

"You have lost your goddamn mind!" How dare he? How fucking dare he? "Did somebody poison you or something? Because there's _no way_ you just called me a _slob_!"

I leave my things around a bit, okay? My clothes can be found in odd places sometimes because I don't pay attention to where I leave them (they also end up in the weirdest places as a result of Sasuke and I's, er, _adventures_). And okay, I don't wash my dishes the instant I finish using them. They lay around the counter for a few hours, is that a crime? Sometimes they spend a day there if I'm too busy, but do I leave them hanging around for weeks on end like Naruto does? No, damnit. I don't. If anyone is a slob here, it's _Naruto_. Leaving my things around a bit and not washing my dishes the minute I finish using them does not make me a fucking _slob_.

Sasuke glares harder. "I am _fine_," he spits out. "And you _are_."

"You have about ten seconds to explain yourself _before I break your entire face._"

There is a slight widening of his eyes, and if I wasn't so damn furious, I might have smirked.

"You left the garbage out on the porch and forgot about it for two days." His fists clench, and I am just about ready to punch his lights out because I so did not leave the garbage out for two days, that _ass_. "And a fucking racoon went through it and threw rotten shit everywhere." He's shaking now, but I notice that it's not of anger. It seemed more like… disgust? Horror? I don't know—I don't care at the moment, to be honest. That little shit is accusing me of something that I did _not_ do. "Now there's earwigs, maggots, wasps and fucking _cockroaches_ all over the fucking garbage you were _supposed_ to take out _properly_ and which is now spilled _all over_ the fucking porch."

That fucking—did he just shudder? What the hell?

"And now I'm going to have to call a exterminator to take care of your—"

"Okay, I'm gonna stop you right there," I growl, raising a fisted hand at him. "Firstly, I wasn't the one who forgot to properly take out the garbage because I haven't been here for the last three days if you don't remember." His eyes just got a little bigger. Good. The little fucker remembers. "Secondly, you had two _fucking_ days to bring the garbage out into the big container." I'm not sure if his ears are reddening from anger or embarrassment, but I'm leaning more towards the latter. "Thirdly, you don't need to call a fucking exterminator because they are not in the house yet you _idiot_. Deal with it yourself: it's called bug spray, you _twat_!"

He's silent, finally. Seemingly contemplating something, which is stupid because he has nothing to contemplate at the moment—unless he's contemplating how to say he's _sorry_.

"You deal with it."

…EXCUSE ME. EXCUUUUUUUUUUUUUSE ME. HE DID NOT. HE DID NOT JUST SAY THAT. HE DID NOT—

"Come again?"

"You deal with it." He's not being mean anymore but he is crazy if he thinks he can bitch at me for something I didn't do and then _clean up the mess_.

Seriously, does he have a concussion or something? Because he's usually not this stupid.

"Cockroaches and maggots creep me the fuck out," he adds, suddenly. His voice is quieter—ashamed almost. "So…" He turns away at this point, and I know he does that a lot when he's about to ask a favor or when he's just said something embarrassing. "Can you deal with it for me?"

Oh my god. Oh my _god_.

"Sasuke, are you afraid of _bugs_?"

"Shut. _Up_. I am _not_."

* * *

**A/N:** _Sorry it's short, and that it sucks a lot, I just wasn't home for the whole day (didn't come back until 9PM) and this prompt didn't exactly inspire me to do a very long drabble. I felt it deserved more a funny little scene. Just keeping it lighthearted, ya know?_

_Heads up that I will be gone for two or three days, thus my updates will be after that. I'm going home to visit the fam and go to the zoo._

_Toodles! _

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	13. what i've been living for

**Title: **what i've been living for  
**Summary:** Sasuke finds the last ingredient to his eternal happiness.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Recipe  
**Rating:** M  
**Warning(s): **Some inexplicit sex. Still enough to be rated M though.  
**Comments:** I have no idea why I didn't think of food for this prompt, like nearly everyone did. Perhaps it's because I was looking at family!SasuSaku fanart when I thought about this prompt? Regardless, ENJOY A SASUSAKU BABY.

* * *

There was always something missing.

Amidst all the mind-blowingly beautiful and amazing sex, the always being there for each other, always making each other feel special; amidst all the kissing and smiling and laughing, the fighting and biting and screaming and scratching; amidst all the falling apart and pulling each other back, the make-ups and almost break-ups; amidst the sweetness and the hotness and the anger and the sadness—amidst all of that, there was something missing.

It wasn't to say Sasuke was unhappy with Sakura—he really wasn't. He was incredibly happy. In fact, he was the happiest he had ever been in his life when he was with her. He was never miserable around her, but he would still spend nights thinking about that missing piece.

Most often, this would happen when Sakura fell asleep after a session of some intense lovemaking. He would bury his head in her pink hair, stroke the area above the apex of her thighs, where his hand would be resting, and would think about the possibility of her being pregnant, having spent his seed inside of her only minutes ago. It hadn't been very long since they had decided to abandon the use of protection—they'd made that choice a couple weeks before they got married—but Sasuke knew that this little feelings of emptiness, that nagged at him more often than not these days, did not stem from this recent choice.

Although, he reckoned that it had something to do with it: somehow, not using a condom or any type of contraceptive had filled a little of that void. He couldn't explain why. He couldn't really understand it himself. He could only remember how he felt a little twinge of accomplishment—or something of the sort—that night when they were reaching their peak and she had first pleaded him, "Come inside me! Oh god, oh _god_, Sasuke-kun please _come inside me_! _Please_!"

And when he did, he remembered that release had never felt as good as it did that night.

Then, one day, he understood. Just like that. After two simple little words.

"I'm pregnant."

She was smiling, and there were tears of joy in her eyes. She was so, so happy. Euphoric.

And so was he.

After the initial shock had worn off, Sasuke had stepped towards her with steady strides and placed his hands on her stomach. He'd felt awed and thankful. He'd felt like he was one step closer to being complete.

And suddenly, he understood what had been missing in his life with her: a child. A _family_.

For the next nine months, the void gradually filled itself. He found himself growing more and more excited when they recorded the progress of her big belly, measuring the growth by tracing it against the wall with a marker. He'd feel his heart jump with joy every time the baby kicked when he felt up her stomach. His heart would flutter with love and awe every time he walked in the room to find Sakura talking or reading to her stomach.

He was getting happier, and the void wasn't so big anymore—but it wasn't quite gone yet.

And then, his son was born: all dark hair and dark eyes, with healthy pink skin and fragile limbs. Ten hours of labor and four hours in the delivery room—that's how long it took to put this little miracle in the world. And he was perfect.

"He looks just like you," Sakura said, a little breathless, yet looking utterly elated despite her exhausted state. There were proud tears at the corner of her eyes. This, combined with the look unconditional love directed at their baby, made him fall in love with her all over again. "I don't see any of me in him."

"He's loud," Sasuke amended, brushing sweaty locks away from her face with surprising tenderness. "That's something he got from you."

Instead of glaring at him or giving him a piece of her mind, she only looked up at him and giggled. "Would you like to hold him, Sasuke-kun?" she asked, smiling brighter.

Sasuke couldn't remember ever feeling this greedy. As soon as the words left her mouth, his hands were reaching out possessively towards the bundle in her arms. His wife actually had to calm him down first, telling him he was going to hurt Itachi if he wasn't careful enough. The moment he heard the name fall from her lips, he froze. Sakura was immediately concerned by this reaction, but before she had the time to worry about it, Sasuke planted a deep, thankful kiss on her forehead.

She had smiled and let the proud tears fall from her eyes, a wet laugh escaping her when he reached for his son again, cautiously this time.

"Itachi," he murmured to the child, looking down at him with such love that it was the final straw for Sakura. She broke down into happy sobs, earning her Sasuke's full attention again, but it was evident that she wasn't trying to gain it. She tried to apologize and tell him she didn't want to ruin the moment, but Sasuke kissed her and murmured words of gratitude and forever back to her. He shifted Itachi in one arm and made sure that he was safely tucked there before sitting on his wife's hospital bed and pulling her close with his free arm.

And sitting there, with Sakura in one arm and their baby in the other: he finally felt complete.

_(Being Sakura was great. Amazing._

_But having a family with her… that was the perfect recipe for pure, unadulterated happiness. )_

* * *

**A/N:** _And I'm back! A little messy because I wrote this late at night, sorry. But it came out alright, I suppose. Sorry if it also seems quick-paced but I couldn't find a way to make it seem, er, slower-paced. I hope it's fine, though?_

_Updates should be regular again, though I need to catch up a little bit on the prompts, but I figure I'll be back on track in two days, maybe even just one. I'm leaning more towards two._

_See you tomorrow! _

DeepPoeticGirl


	14. there's no such thing as wild enough

**Title: ** there's no such thing as wild enough  
**Summary:** When it came to stealing information out of his girlfriend, Sasuke was an expert.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Classified  
**Rating:** M  
**Warning(s): **Smut. Pure smut. Pretty graphic, also.  
**Comments:** I made drabbles of Sakura torturing Sasuke, and now it's his turn. ;) Omg I just realised this is my first ACTUAL SMUT piece, where the sex is not just implied. ENJOY.

* * *

"What do you want, Sasuke?" Sakura gasped between breaths, shutting her eyes tightly as she felt his mouth sucking and licking at the side of her neck. He ground his hips against hers and she moaned, grinding back against him, before feeling him smirk on her skin.

"Isn't it obvious?" he drawled, nipping at her jaw hotly. He felt up her stomach to make his point, fingers teasing the area on the underside of her breasts. "I think I've made my intention pretty clear, here," he whispered, before capturing her lips again in another hell of a kiss.

Her hands found themselves pressing against his chest, giving little pushes but never really genuine in the purpose of getting him off her. His lips and tongue were doing wonders to her own mouth, conveying his utter need for her by imitating what he longed to do to her. A sharp cry left her when his hands unexpectedly parted her thighs even wider, creating an even more delicious friction as he grinded his pelvis into hers harshly. He smirked against her again, and bit her lower lip seductively.

"You and I both know you don't waste time unnecessarily teasing me," she groaned, before panting harshly and taking a moment to recollect herself. "Unless you want something."

He chuckled darkly, gliding his hands softly against the inside of her thighs to torment her some more. "Hm. That's true," he affirmed, smirking devilishly. His fingers grazed her underwear, moving slowly over the dampening material, watching as his girlfriend inhaled sharply and tried to compose herself again. Satisfaction crept on his face as he watched her efforts crumble when he quickly delved under her panties and pressed harshly against her clit.

"Oh fuck," she whimpered, gripping his shirt tightly.

He ground his knuckles against her sensitive bud, alternating between gentle brushes and harsh strokes, loving the way she reacted so earnestly. More curses slipped out of her mouth when he maneuvered his hand so he could slip a finger into her, yet keep a constant pressure against her clit with his palm. Yet doing any movements proved to be difficult within the constraints of her underwear, and he slipped his hand out a few moments later, trying to keep from laughing at her disappointed moan.

"Sasuke," she said, half breathless. Her hands fisted in his shirt, and she suddenly yanked him forward until they were nose-to-nose. Her eyes narrowed threateningly. "If you only came here to be a tease and never intended to finish on what you started, I'm going to rip your fucking dick off."

Sasuke simple chuckled and slipped her panties down until it dangled off one leg, kissing her deeply. One hand moved to touch her clit again, while the other slowly made its way up to her neck. She was starting to grow impatient, and it showed in the way she recklessly ripped his shirt open and threw it off his body and somewhere behind him. She greedily touched his skin, pressing and stroking and scratching whatever she could reach. He groaned in appreciation.

"Hurry up!"

"Not quite," he replied, delving his fingers into her in one swift movement, thrusting harshly a few times before he stopped altogether.

"Sasuke!" she cried in frustration, hitting his chest in protest. "I'm serio—"

She found herself to be cut off when the source of her irritation pushed her body down so it was flat against the desk she'd been sitting on moments prior. His hands weren't touching her anymore, and just when she was beginning to think he had left her like this, she felt his tongue on the inside of her left thigh.

"Oh," she whispered, becoming increasingly aware of what his next move would be. "_Oh_."

"What's that mission everybody's all hyped about?" her boyfriend asked huskily, nuzzling the skin he'd previously just licked.

"What?" She wasn't sure if she'd just imagined that—it sounded terribly out of context. Then, his tongue was on her skin again, closer to her core than it had been before, forcing her to overlook the situation. It made her breath hitch in anticipation.

"What's the mission?"

_Okay, so I didn't imagine it_, she thought, huffing out an angry noise. "The hell, don't you think this is a bit of a mood kill—"

His mouth was on her, and she forgot everything.

"Oh," she whimpered. "_Oh_!"

"Where's the scroll, Sakura?" he asked, laving up her swollen clit with slow, sure strokes of his tongue.

She was too lost in pleasure to respond, or even register what he was asking her, but Sasuke continued his work regardless. He was being precise in his touches and licks, knowing exactly what pressure to put and which stroke to use to build up the release quickly; but he was also holding back, just enough to leave her tipping off the edge, with no way to fall off on her own.

He wanted her as frustrated as ever—she tended to spill out whatever he wanted to know, then.

"Shit, Sasuke!" she cried out, burying her fingers in his hair and tugging on it relentlessly.

Her boyfriend groaned in response, burying deeper between her thighs and pushing her legs open wider to have better access. "Answer me, Sakura," he growled, keeping his mouth on her so she could feel the vibrations.

She let out a loud, enraptured moan and thrashed around wildly, scrapping her nails almost painfully against his scalp. He growled against her again.

"Fuck!" she shrieked, tightening her grip on his hair and pushing him deeper, a longing moan escaping her throat freely when he kept laving her up. "I don't know, fuck, I don't know! Just make me come already, Sasuke!" she pleaded, grinding against his mouth and whining softly.

Sasuke smirked, pulling his mouth away and resisting her when she shouted angrily and tried to get him back. He used his fingers to stroke around her opening and purposefully avoided touching around her clit, knowing one touch could set her off at this stage. Sakura started yelling obscenities at him, fingers still in his hair and pulling harshly—something that made him groan in pain.

"Sasuke, _please_—"

"Not until you tell me where it is," he snapped, nipping at the inside of her thighs in an almost punishing matter.

Sakura hissed in response, biting her lip and shaking her head lightly in negation. "It's classified, you idiot!"

"I want the damn mission, Sakura," he said, tearing himself away from her completely and getting back on his feet. He took a moment to look at her, legs still spread wide open and revealing every inch of her, hands gripping the edge of the desk tightly while she arched her back and moaned. At this, Sasuke shoved his pants and boxers down, grasping his cock firmly and pumping it a few times to relieve some of the tension. He stopped when he realized what she was doing, letting his hand fall back to his side while he glared at her angrily.

He hated how her she was trying to tempt him—or rather, hated that it was working. He was supposed to be tormenting _her_!

"Sasuke," she breathed, looking down at him with wanton eyes. "Finish what you started, and make me _come_."

When he stayed there, frozen and impossibly hard, hands fisting at his side in an attempt to control himself, Sakura simply moaned and reached to touch herself. She smiled and panted when she heard Sasuke snarl before he grabbed both of her hands and slammed them on each side of her head, looking dangerously close to losing it.

"Let's come together, baby," she went on, lifting her hips to touch his. The way he so easily responded to her touch and pushed his hips towards hers instinctively made her smirk. "I know you want to _fuck_ me, Sasuke, so _do it_!"

She thought she had won, then, as he let out a mindless roar and slammed inside of her, thrusting savagely, as though he had lost every ounce of his control. But what she didn't know is that Sasuke had carefully planned this from the moment she started seducing him back, and was only pretending to have lost all control in order to make her believe he was done with his tormenting.

"_Oh_!" she gasped, locking her legs around his hips and forcing him deeper. "_Faster_!" she cried, moaning in wild abandon. When he complied with a feral growl, she commanded, "_Harder_!"

He complied again, moaning with her, his new pace effectively making the desk shake and move violently. Sakura arched her back when she felt the stirrings of release, screaming and shrieking from the pleasure, desperate to finally reach her end—only for everything to stop, all at once.

Her vision was blurry, mind completely disoriented, her swollen bud throbbing badly for a release she had been _so close_ to having, and she couldn't seem to understand what happened.

"Wha—"

"You didn't really think I was done with tormenting you, did you?" she heard her Sasuke drawl above her, his tone so full of arrogance that she was sure he was smirking.

Her mouth opened, but whatever she was about to say was forgotten as he started thrusting again, only achingly slowly, preventing her from reaching that ever-elusive end she had been trying so hard to reach for the past hour.

"Where's the scroll, Sakura?" he asked, keeping a firm grip on her wrists so she would not try to take over. "Tell me where the scroll is," he urged softly, rocking his hips into hers a little faster, "and I'll _fuck you into oblivion_."

She cried out in need and let out a soft sob, trying to make him move harder, faster, as she pushed at his hips with her legs, but to no avail.

"Fuck, Sasuke!" she shouted, thrashing and moaning against him. "You're not being fair, you know I can lose my job if I—"

He burrowed deeper and gave the most delicious series of thrusts that left her screaming in delight.

"Oh, yes," she whispered, moving with him harshly. "Oh god, _yes_!"

"Where is it?" he groaned, letting go of one wrist so he could make her look at him. "Tell me where it is and I'll give you what you want, I'll do whatever you want me to do." He slowed his pace, then, and kissed her hungrily. "But if you don't," he said as he ended the heated kiss and leaned his forehead against hers, "If you don't, I'm going to stop. Completely."

The grave look on his face told her he was being serious. She swallowed tightly, gritting her teeth. She knew she couldn't have that happen—not when she had been this close to _the most amazing orgasm yet_!

"In our library," she finally admitted, her voice incredibly hoarse. "In the food section. Behind the book about body enhancing meal recip—_Ah_!"

Her body all but slammed into a wall, and within the next moment, Sasuke was back to fucking her like an animal. This time, his inhibitions were all completely unrestrained, and this time, he was fully intending on getting them both to their explosive release. His skin slapped hers aggressively, mouth leaving frenzied kisses wherever he could reach, while his hands worshipped her body in every way possible. Their lower bodies made crude, squelching noises whenever they met, and it was the most erotic sound Sakura ever heard.

When her orgasm hit, she completely lost track of reality. She felt it everywhere in her body, tingling and screaming and rippling in every nerve existing in her body, the mind-blowing, staggering, toe-curling pleasure nearly knocking her out. She was shrieking and arching and scratching, limbs shaking from the intensity of it all, while she convulsed around him tightly and sent him over the edge with her. She rode out the waves with him groaning fervently in her ear, gasping and moaning when she felt him come inside of her in hot spurts. The feeling was so erotic that it sent her over the edge once more.

Once she was finally spent, Sakura unhooked her legs from his waist and let them fall to the ground, her body trembling all over while she panted desperately for breath. Her eyes were shut tight and she couldn't seem to find any type of coherent thought to describe how utterly unbelievably amazing this had been.

Her legs buckled, then, but Sasuke caught her with ease. He carried them both over to the bed, putting her down gently before he settled on top of her again, his cock sliding inside gently. His lips met hers softly, lazily, and Sakura smiled, chest still heaving rather heavily. She kissed him back slowly, almost weakly, but ended up having to pull away to catch her breath again.

Sasuke chuckled, brushing sweaty locks away from her face, before he gave her a final, sweet kiss. "How was that?" he asked, running a hand up her side tenderly.

Sakura, who was fully aware that he was inside of her, simply hiked a leg on his hips and said, "Can we do that again?"

He simply let out a quiet laugh before he complied all too enthusiastically.

* * *

**A/N**: _Ah, yissss. I can totally see the both of them using this kind of 'technique' to convince the other of something they don't want to do. ;) And each and every time, the both of them would yield, bwhahaha._

_Hope you enjoyed, though. I certainly enjoyed writing it a lot. Teehee. _

_Oh, and figures my longest drabble would be smut. lmao._

_Toodles, my loves!_

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	15. we've come too far to give up

**Title: **we've come too far to give up  
**Summary:** It wasn't just a dream anymore.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Chasing a Dream  
**Rating:** K  
**Warning(s):** None.  
**Comments:** KISHI JUST GIVE US A HUG WHERE HE RECIPROCATES PLEASE THAT'S ALL I'M ASKING FOR.

* * *

For three years now, they'd been chasing after Sasuke.

For three years now, they'd been beaten, rejected, belittled by the man in question because he had no intention of coming back. They'd cried and yelled and snapped and screamed, grieving their loss every time they were defeated and every time he slipped through their fingers. For three years, they had endured excruciating pain.

But no longer.

Now, they were all fighting side by side again. Under some uneasy and ambiguous circumstances, granted, but they were together again.

It was amazing. It was like that dream of theirs—the one that was born the morning after Sasuke deserted the village, the one that grew stronger and stronger in their years of searching and fighting and training and trying, the one that kept them going all this time—finally came true.

It wasn't to say that they didn't have doubts about him because really, they all did—he came to their side on the battlefield rather suddenly, after all, with not-so-clear reasons. Days ago, he'd tried to kill them… and then 'things had changed' and he was on their side.

But it wasn't just that. Sakura noticed it, during the fighting, how darkness still lingered around him. Naruto did too. It showed in his mannerisms, in the way he said things, and in the way he looked at them, too. They both knew that he wasn't saved yet—not completely at least. Sasuke still had to be guided into the light, and they knew that—they were willing to be the ones guiding him. They had spent more than three years chasing after him, and it was only natural that they be the ones who helped him take those last steps.

.

.

"Is it over?" Sakura asked, a little breathless as she stood beside him and watched the Alliance cheer victory.

"Yeah," Sasuke answered, swallowing tightly as he observed his then-former-now-current comrades hug and patting each other on the back, laughing and crying with each other while they shouted triumph over the war. Some, he noticed, were kissing or throwing confessions across the field—something that made him shift awkwardly because it reminded him all too clearly of the night he left and his pink haired teammate's lovely, tempting words of forever and always. His eyes left the scene and shifted down to the rocky floor, and he repeated, "Yeah."

The young medic looked at him curiously, frowning a little at the expression he wore. "Are you okay, Sasuke-kun?"

He looked up and caught her gaze, feeling something tug at his heartstrings sweetly when he noticed how worried she was for him. A sigh left his lips, and he shoved his hands in his pockets before pointedly looking away from her and putting on a nonchalant façade. He didn't want her worrying about him for nothing. "I'm fine, Sakura."

She didn't seem too convinced. "You… seemed a little bothered, that's all."

"I'm fine," he repeated, voice firm. "You don't need to concern yourself with this. I'll deal with it." And he spoke truly, because he intended to deal with that night and her declaration soon enough, when things were a little more stable between them. Bringing it up anytime soon didn't seem to be a very good idea—not while the wounds of killing attempts and betrayal were still fresh. They both had some explaining to do, and they both needed to rebuild some of the trust they had lost along the way.

"Sasuke-kun."

There was a touch on his wrist, and his head snapped down in its direction. He found himself surprised to see her hand there. Slowly, his eyes rose and met hers, and she understood the silent question there.

"It's okay." Sakura smiled and gripped him tighter, moving to stand before him. Her smile brightened, and he gave her a weary, almost confused look, before stiffening in shock when she abruptly threw her arms around him and embraced him tightly. He didn't know what to do, didn't know what to say—he was completely taken aback by her touchy behavior. He wasn't exactly expecting her to be comfortable touching him until a while from now, when they would have solved their biggest issues.

And yet here she was, hugging him tightly. Her guard completely dropped, as if she already trusted wholeheartedly. He couldn't seem to take it in.

"Sasuke-kun," she whispered, burying her nose in his dirtied shirt. She didn't seem to mind that he smelt of sweat and blood. "Okaeri."

His whole body softened at the word, and he felt as though all the weight had been lifted from his shoulders, just for this moment. Obsidian stared at the mop of pink hair with the same affection he used to, all those years ago. It made him realise how no matter how much they changed, some things stayed the same.

He sighed, smiling lightly, and wrapped his own arms around her, reciprocating the hug.

"Sakura," he breathed, holding her tighter. "Tadaima."

_(A dream that became reality, truly. She didn't need to chase it anymore.)_

* * *

**A/N:** _Short because I'm trying to catch up and writing long drabbles like the last one is not helping. Also, I don't think this will happen in canon because in my opinion, something will happen in the manga after they fought Jubito, where Sasuke and Naruto will fight. I don't think they'll fight to the death, obviously, I just think the war is not the last thing, hence a SasuSaku hug and welcome back scene is not going to happen when they defeat him, in my opinion. But anyway, I digress._

_Oh, and for those who don't know:_

_Okaeri = Welcome back._

_Tadaima = I'm home._

_See ya!_

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	16. my heart stumbles on things I don't know

**Title: **my heart stumbles on things I don't know  
**Summary:** When it came to love, Sasuke was clueless as ever.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Fish Out of Water  
**Rating:** T  
**Warning(s):** None, I believe.  
**Comments:** Because I love awkward!Sasuke with all of my heart. And to me, he is canon. SO NO OOC IN THIS HOUSE IN MY OPINION.

* * *

For the first time in his life, Sasuke was at a complete and utter loss about what to do.

Dealing with an ambush of talented ninjas was fine—he could keep control of the situation, here. Hell, even as he was faced with the Juubi, Madara and Obito, he could still keep his mind running for solutions and plans. He had no problem keeping his composure in front of a room full of incredibly unhappy Kages and scornful Elders, and it was easy to deal with delusional hordes of fangirls.

But letting the girl he liked know of his feelings? He didn't know how to do that. He didn't know how to go about it.

He was completely out of his element.

"Teme, this is getting really pathetic."

Sasuke glared at his best friend with a quiet fury, curling a hand in a tight fist. "Shut up," he ground out. "I don't know how these things work."

"_Clearly_," Naruto said, rolling his eyes and remaining unmindful of his friend's growing deadly aura. "I mean, what the hell made you believe that inviting Sakura on a one on one training—and not the sexy kind!—was _making a move_?" He threw his hands in the air in desperation. "You do that all the time already!"

"I don't," Sasuke snapped back, fisting his hand tighter. "You and Kakashi are always _there_." He paused. "And I invited her during _sunset_."

Naruto stared at him incredulously. "And that's supposed to make it _romantic_?"

The pointed look that was given to him in response was all it took to make his jaw drop in disbelief. "You… you are an _idiot_," he said. "I mean, I knew you were probably going to be romantically retarded but _this_." He gestured to Sasuke's whole self, then. "This is just sad."

"If you keep insulting me like that, I'm going to pummel you," Sasuke retorted angrily, his embarrassment taking the best of him. "Besides," he went on, "I didn't exactly spend my teenage years going through romance movies and novels, or running after girls."

"Did you run after boys, then?" Naruto joked, nudging his shoulder.

The severe glare sent his way made him swallow nervously. "Kidding," he chimed, throwing his hands up in defeat. "_Obviously kidding_."

"I didn't exactly have any example to follow either," Sasuke growled, fixing his blonde best friend with a knowing stare.

"Hey!" the latter protested loudly. "Nobody taught me how to approach girls, either, but I still did alright!"

He snorted. "Sakura rejecting your every advance clearly proves that."

Naruto snarled. "Well at least she _knew_ I was making a move," he snapped.

Silence.

"…Hn."

The Hokage-in-training rolled his eyes, before sighing and taking pity on Sasuke once more. "Look, maybe I can help you out," he said, turning on his seat so he could face him fully. His ramen lay forgotten, for once. "You really like her, right?"

There was a pause, as the remaining Uchiha stared at him for a moment, as if contemplating. Then, he lowered his head and mumbled something incomprehensible.

The blonde leaned his ear closer, saying, "What was that?"

Sasuke looked up to him and glared, but it didn't seem so vicious anymore. When Naruto only blinked back, he sighed, shoulders slumping. "Yeah," he admitted quietly. "Yeah, I do."

He felt very vulnerable, all of a sudden. Naruto had known for a while of Sasuke's feelings for their pink haired teammate—but Sasuke had never outright told him that, not intentionally anyway. He'd let it slip once when he was drunk off his ass, but otherwise, he'd only implied it.

But now, saying it so openly, so freely—it felt like he had just exposed something major about himself. Like he'd just revealed a huge weakness.

"You need to do something obvious, teme," the other said, resuming his task of slurping noodles.

Sasuke stirred his chopsticks in his meal and mumbled a bit, before rolling his eyes. "I tried. That didn't work either."

Choke. "You—hang on, when the hell was that?" Naruto cried hoarsely through hacking coughs. "You never told me about that!"

A hand came down on his back to dislocate the food caught in there. A muttered thanks was his response, but his friend was still giving him the expectant look.

Sasuke sighed, irritated. "It was a week ago." He started, "I left a flower in her office—her favorite one, too! But she didn't even thank me for it—she didn't say anything to me about it!" He was getting agitated, speaking faster and looking more and more frustrated as the seconds went on. "I thought she'd ask me why. I thought she'd maybe even figure out what I was trying to say. But she didn't and…" He trailed off, running a hand through his hair nervously. "It's like she's stupid or something."

Silence.

"Sasuke…"

The man lifted his head up and glanced at his best friend, sitting beside him and looking as though he was trying not to laugh. His eyes narrowed.

"What?" he snarled, impatient to know what was so funny. What had he done, this time?

"You didn't leave a note." The way Naruto said it, like he was sure of it, or like he had already heard…

He froze. "Did she… did she tell you about this?" he slowly asked, blinking in surprise.

Naruto laughed. "Oh man, I can't believe it was you!" he exclaimed, still laughing. "I mean she was all excited about it because she thought she got a secret admirer! Always babbling about how it had to be someone she knew well because he knew her favorite flower, and since he didn't leave anything to clue her in, he had to return and leave her something else!" He shook his head, grinning in amusement. "She got all depressed that he didn't come back and leave anything else. She thought someone was just messing with her."

He put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, then. "And now it all turns out it was because some _stupid_ guy who was head over ass in love with her didn't know he had to leave a note and thought she could figure it out on her own."

At this point, Sasuke was flushed a shade of bright pink, and looked utterly mortified. "I just thought she… I mean with all the hints I was giving her…"

"What hints? Inviting her to one on one training sessions during sunset, telling her she heals really well _and doesn't have a slimy chakra like Kabuto_—yes, I was there!—paying for her meal by telling her she needed to save her money for her apartment—which by the way, was completely insulting because she told me it made her feel like you thought she couldn't handle her own money—and telling her really randomly that she was good at handling kids—she thought you were really weird there, seriously—those are all hints to you? Really?" Naruto rolled his eyes. "You're romantically retarded if you think those are all proper hints."

"I don't know how this works," Sasuke repeated angrily, having finally had enough of being insulted. He stood up, gave the owner a few bills for his meal, before he turned back to Naruto with furrowed brows. "I'm trying, here. And you're not helping like you said you would." He paused. "It's not like I'm intentionally trying to make myself look bad!" he finished, shoving his hands in his pockets and grumbling to himself.

"No, you just naturally do that, apparently," Naruto said, grinning lightly.

"Fuck you!" Sasuke spat out, having finally breached his limit.

His best friend just stared at him, unimpressed. "You want my advice, Sasuke? Truly?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and looked away. Eventually, he nodded.

"Just kiss her."

Well. He didn't think it was that simple.

* * *

**A/N**: _Sorry for the late update, some unexpected plans came up. My friend is taking summer classes and she's got an exam coming up, so when she asked me to help her study I couldn't refuse lol. The next day I had a whole day planned for the beach with my best friend. But yeah._

_I think I will skip the next two days (Our First Place and Grounded) because I don't feel like rushing myself to do them. SSmonth is supposed to be fun! So yeah, skipping two days to come to today's prompt. I hope I won't have to do that again, but I might. Got a few plans, still. _

_Hope you enjoyed nonetheless. :)_

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	17. it's time to fall into my arms

**Title: **it's time to fall into my arms  
**Summary:** He had a secret. He had a secret and she was hellbent on knowing what it was.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Secrets  
**Rating:** K  
**Warning(s):** A little angst.  
**Comments:** CONTINUATION OF THE LAST PROMPT.

* * *

He was hiding something from her.

He was hiding something from her, and she hated it. It made her feel like he didn't trust her, like he still thought she couldn't handle the truth—like he was still trying to protect her from getting hurt by keeping important information from her. But didn't he know that wasn't the case? Didn't he realize how she could handle herself after he'd told her and Naruto the whole, honest truth about his clan, Itachi, and Konoha? Didn't he know?

A frustrated sigh left her lips, and she gritted her teeth to keep from saying anything to the man beside her, who was riffling through scrolls and books with a concentrated frown. He paused when he heard her, and when she saw the frown on his lips deepen, she knew he'd noticed she had abandoned her own work. He looked at her, then.

"Is… something wrong?" he questioned quietly, his eyes holding a little uncertainty and hesitation. He looked nervous, almost.

The temptation to sigh again was almost overwhelming when she concluded to herself that he was still acting rather oddly with her. He'd gotten unbelievably worse since yesterday, acting all jumpy and agitated around her, as if her very presence made him extremely uncomfortable. Sometimes she thought he was terrified of her—a thought she always immediately dismissed because why in the world would Sasuke ever be scared of her, and in what messed up world would that ever happen? Sasuke was a strong man, and highly unsusceptible to be intimidated, especially not by someone like her.

Clearly, she had to be imagining.

But his edginess? His twitching and grinding of teeth? How he hardly met her gaze unless necessary? He was hiding something—something he didn't want her to know, and something incredibly important. If it wasn't so important, he wouldn't be so… _tense_ around her.

"I don't know, you tell me," Sakura responded, sounding sickly sweet.

From the way his eyes narrowed a little, she could tell he had detected something was wrong.

"You're… angry," he said, slowly. He nodded to himself when she growled in response. "Why are you angry?"

"You're hiding something from me," she said, not bothering to beat around the bush. "And I want to know what it is."

The way his ebony eyes widened in panic when she finished speaking was enough to confirm her suspicions. She fixed him with a steady glare. "I'm done being in the dark, Sasuke," she said, voice firm but… coaxing, also. Her eyes softened a little. "You have to trust me with these things. You have to let me in."

"It's not…" He trailed off, swallowing tightly. "It doesn't…" he tried again, but quieted down rather quickly while he shifted his gaze to the ground.

"It's not important?" she suggested, fisting her hands tightly. "It doesn't matter?"

Sasuke was quick to retaliate with, "No! That's not what I wanted to say, I—"

He cut himself short again, and Sakura shook her head sadly.

"I don't understand you sometimes, Sasuke-kun," she started, looking at him in a way that was almost… disappointed. Strangely, it didn't seem to be aimed at him. "We were doing well when you came back, no? You opened up to Naruto and I, you made us understand. We got closer…" She paused here, letting out a defeated sigh. "At least, I thought so, before you started acting all weird on me. What did I do, Sasuke-kun? Did I say something that made you lose your trust in me? Did I do something that threw you off? Did I _ruin our friendship_?" Her throat was starting to get a little tight, and she could feel the familiar sting in her eyes—the one that signaled tears. She shut them tightly, refusing to let them fall. "Can you please just explain to me why you've been acting so weird, because I can't understand. I just… It just feels like you're trying to push me away by acting like this, like you're trying to make me uncomfortable and I know it makes no sense but—"

Suddenly, she felt something warm, moist and soft on her lips. Her eyes snapped open in shock, and she recoiled in surprise, taking a few steps back.

_("Just kiss her.")_

Sasuke straightened himself, a deep frown passing his lips, but she couldn't seem to take in anything at the moment. Her mind was reeling, running through her memories of recent events, mouth falling open in shock when the realization of the meaning behind his weird, awkward actions, hit her like a ton of bricks. Sakura expelled an astonished breath, refusing to believe in her epiphany—refusing to give herself false hopes.

_It can't be_, she thought, trembling to her very bones. _It can't be, he can't actually_—

Reality slammed back into her when he called her name. She tipped her head up a bit and looked at him, breath catching in her throat at the sight of his guilty, _hurt_, features.

"I just thought that you still…" He trailed off, looking down with what seemed like dejection. He sighed. "I'm sorry," he muttered, turning towards the door. "I'm—I'll just leave."

But she grasped his wrist firmly to keep him from leaving, and bowed her head low.

"…Why?" she asks, her voice small and low and _hopeful_.

He turned to look at her, then, slowly. She wouldn't look at him, so she couldn't see how he straightened at her tone of voice, how the flash of realization crossed his face, too.

Quietly, he said, "For the same reason most people kiss someone, Sakura."

Beat.

"But you're not most people, Sasuke-kun."

An impatient, angry breath.

Then abruptly, his hands were on her shoulders and he was kissing her again, nose pressing against hers awkwardly—revealing how inexperienced he was. He was frowning angrily, and his grip was a little too tight on her, but she reminded herself that this was Sasuke and he was intense and beautiful and perfect in his imperfections.

Just when she was about to start responding, he pulled away, already blushing. His grip wasn't loosening, either.

He cleared his throat, looking away from her. "I shouldn't have to explain to you why I did that," he finally said. "You're smart, Sakura. You know why."

She was blushing now, too. "You…" she started, smiling shyly. "You really don't have a clue how relationships work, do you?" she asked, referring to his weird behavior in their recent past.

His eyes narrow.

"Don't make fun of me," he bit out, before he slammed her against the wall and forcefully kissed her, allowing her to reciprocate, this time.

He was clumsy, clearly did not know where to put his hands, and moved his mouth rather quickly, messily, but it only made Sakura smile. Gently, she rubbed his neck and tried to get him to calm down—tried to get him to follow her lead. She coaxed him into relaxation, sliding her lips over his slowly, _sensually_, guiding him into a proper kiss. One of her hands slipped into his hair when he slowed down and fell in sync with her, running through the tangles tenderly.

He was a quick learner, she would give him that.

"I love you," she whispered in his ear when they pulled away, both panting softly.

In response, Sasuke leaned back lightly and laid a gentle, fond kiss on her forehead before he nuzzled her hair.

* * *

**A/N**: _I didn't want to do a continuation. Mostly because I knew it'd mess it up, but partly too because I felt like it could just stand on its own. But this was the only idea I had for this prompt, the only one that inspired me to write something that wasn't half-assed. All thanks to a reviewer, really. So I guess, you could say this stands alone too, but technically it's a continuation of the last prompt._

_Yeah… so, next update shall be soon, I believe. I'd like to get the two next ones out tomorrow, and I think I probably will, having absolutely nothing to do but sit in my bed and nurse my nasty sunburn hahahha. Not going on with a burn like that, certainly not in this heat! xD_

_Hehe, toodles loves. :)_

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	18. i can't escape, unless you show me how

**Title:** I can't escape, unless you show me how  
**Summary:** He wants to start new. And to do that, he needs to restart from scratch.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Inventions  
**Rating:** K  
**Warning(s):** Some angst.  
**Comments:** I think some of you might really like this idea.

* * *

"You're up late again," his wife remarks, voice filled with worry.

He looks up from his desk with a tired gaze, sees her leaning on the frame of his office door, and nods his head lightly in affirmation. "Go to bed, Sakura," he murmurs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I won't be long."

"That's what you said yesterday. And the day before. And the day before that, too." She pauses, and takes a few steps forward to touch his shoulder gently. "You need sleep, Sasuke."

"I'm fine," he replies calmly, running his hand through his hair, then turning back to his book and flipping to the next page, before he scans it quickly. He nods to himself after a moment, and scribbles something on a paper. "I just need to get this done."

"Sasuke…" she whispers, sounding a little sad. "You know you don't have to rush this. There's plenty of time to figure this out—"

His eyes harden. "Don't start with me, Sakura. You know we've already talked about this," he says, irritably. "I don't want to hear it, especially when you know nothing about this."

He sees how the worry grows in her eyes and sighs, lifting a hand to rub at his temple lightly, the anger leaving him. He was out of line.

"I'm sorry," he apologizes tiredly, pushing the papers and books away from him as he turns to look at her properly. She seems small and vulnerable with her hands up to her chest like that, and he knows then that his harsh behavior has not only worried her, but it has hurt her as well.

He grasps her hip lightly and bows his head, bringing her closer to him. "I'm sorry," he repeats softly. "I'm just tired." It is the understatement of the year, but he knows she will understand. His free hand clutches the back of her shirt, and he tugs lightly.

He feels Sakura bury her hands in his hair as she lets him bring her close, and he closes his eyes, leaning his forehead on her stomach. He always loved her most in moments like these, when she forgave him without lingering bitterness—when she knew he was not himself and didn't mean whatever he did or said.

"I didn't think it would be this hard," Sasuke says, breaking the long, comforting silence. "I never thought it would be easy, but I didn't think it would be so hard either." He is opening himself up to her, tonight, something he hadn't been wanting to do when it came to this subject. She hardly knew anything about it—he just didn't think she'd get it. "Everything just comes back to the basic techniques. I want new ones. I need new ones." He tightens his hold on her shirt. "I can't let my children use the same destructive techniques that me, Itachi, and the rest of the Uchihas abused of in the past. They're tainted."

"I know," he hears her say softly, while she brushes his scalp with her slim fingers. "I know."

He takes a deep breath and tries to calm the anger—the disappointment—boiling in his stomach. "It's not working," he grinds out, angry at himself. "I can't create new jutsus—I can't even make _one_." He pushes away from her when he feels that he might ends up accidentally hurt her, and when his red eyes catch sight of the books on his desk, he violently throws them off.

His breathing is slightly off pattern now, but he is unaware. He only runs a shaky hand through his hair, and closes his eyes tightly. "I can't do it."

"You don't need to," Sakura replies after a moment. He sees her crouch in front of him so she can grasp his face in her hands. "Sasuke, you don't have to do this."

His anger flares again, when he realizes that he was right when he thought she wouldn't get it. His hands rises to grasp her wrists so he can put hers away, but he freezes when she smiles lovingly, _understandingly_, at him.

"The techniques aren't tainted, Sasuke," she starts, stroking his cheek softly. "The only reason they seem tainted is because of the way they were used." His eyes widen, but she doesn't give him time to say anything. "You only need to teach our children to use them for _good_, to save the lives of the ones they love and care about, like you have done many times. Teach them never to use them to cause unnecessary harm; teach them never to kill, especially not with those techniques. Teach them _morality_ and _virtue_." She smiles brighter. "They aren't bad, Sasuke. They will never be bad if they choose to use them for the greater good."

He is quiet, for a while. He looks at her, takes in the warmth of her smile, remembers her reassuring words and loses himself in the righteousness of this woman. She echoes truth—she is amazing.

She is his wife, his lover, his one true love… and someday soon, she will be a mother.

He looks down at her very swollen stomach and caresses it with the most loving touch, thinking to himself that she will be a great mother if she keeps talking like that and he will pale in parenthood in comparison to her. Then he pulls her into his lap and kisses her sweetly, murmuring on her lips, "You're right."

He scoops her up and brings her to the bedroom, where they can both get a well-deserved good night sleep, and murmurs words of gratitude and love to her as they become wrapped up in each other's arms.

Sleep comes easy and quickly, and the books lay forgotten on the floor.

* * *

**A/N**: _A little short, but please don't complain. I don't intend on making all of my drabbles long. In fact, the majority of my drabbles aren't even drabbles—they're mini fics. Lol. I do hope you still enjoyed! I shall try to get my next update tonight, though it will likely be a little late at night._

_Do try to leave a review, they make me smile and I treasure every single one of them (except the ones who contains only two dreaded words)._

_See you soon!_

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	19. let me show you beauty

**Title: **let me show you beauty  
**Summary:** Talking wasn't working. He was going to have to show her what he meant.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Mirror  
**Rating:** M  
**Warning(s):** A little swearing. A little angst. Dirty talk. Sex.  
**Comments:** I instantly thought smut for this prompt, no idea why. But then I got a second idea and I decided to link them both together. I know a lot of girls face this type of problem, myself included, and I hope I portray this adequately enough. Enjoy!

* * *

Sakura didn't hate her body. She was just… disappointed in it, sometimes.

It often occurred to her on days she ran her errands and came across beautiful, heavenly proportioned women—civilians or ninja. She would think nothing much of it, but when she would catch her reflection in a window or mirror some time later, that's when those perfect looking women revisited her mind and made her insecure. She would brush a hand on her thigh, imagining it a little wider, and a little more rounded. She would look at her breasts and picture them as bigger, fuller. She would run a hand through her hair and frown. She would bite her lip at her lack of curves, eyes tracing her straight figure unhappily.

And then she would snap out of it and proceed with her errands, ignoring what had just happened but unconsciously letting the problem stir in her head.

She would never notice, but her insecurities popped up quite regularly at the end of those days. She would come home a little more sluggish than usual, feeling disgusting with herself—which she always thought was the heat of the day or the long day of work—and would avoid looking at her reflections. She would dress in pyjamas that revealed absolutely nothing about her body, and which were usually in somber colors. If they had sex, she'd move in ways to hide some parts of her body, or she'd be particularly quiet—something she never was during those kinds of time. Sometimes, she even insisted on keeping the lights off.

She would never notice she did that, but Sasuke, having always been so perceptive, always would.

And he was steadily growing more concerned with her odd behavior.

.

.

"You know, I don't really have the body type for childbearing," Sakura said one day, out of the blue while they were watching one of her soap operas together.

_(Well, she was watching. He was just about ready to fall asleep.)_

Sasuke blinked. "What?"

"I'm not saying I can't bear children," she quickly amended, turning up to look at him. "I'm just saying I don't really have the right body type for it. My hips are technically not big enough."

He raised an eyebrow. "What brought this about?"

Silence.

"I don't know," she finally said, shrugging. "Naruto telling us of Hinata's pregnancy, maybe?"

He looked at her evenly. "That was a week ago." He paused. "Are you sure it wasn't because we talked about having kids, last night?"

She shifted uncomfortably, and shrugged half-heartedly, this time. "I don't know," she murmured quietly, moving her gaze away from him and to the soap opera. "Maybe."

He tightened his arm around her, squeezing comfortingly. "You've been acting odd, lately," he said, looking worried. When she didn't say anything and pretended not to have heard, Sasuke sighed, deciding to get straight to the point. "I never took you for one of those who was insecure about their body, Sakura."

The woman froze, before snapping her head towards him with offended features. "I'm not!" she protested strongly. "I really don't know where you got that idea from. I mean, if it's with the childbearing body type thing… that was only an observation." She crossed her arms on her chest and slid away from him a little, looking back at their TV with a determined, affronted face. She was definitely unhappy with him.

"It's not just that," he reluctantly went on, slipping his arm off of her in case she decided to rip it off in the next few seconds. "It's a number of things. You not liking to look at yourself in a mirror, is one of them. You frowning deeply when you actually _do_ look, is another." He pressed his lips together firmly, eyebrows creasing when she didn't seem to want to listen to him. "I'm observant, and you know that," he went on. "And you… you've been acting like you don't like the way you look, sometimes. And I don't get it, because you never used to do that before."

He saw her lips thinning, and watched as frowned in thought. "What happened to change that?" he asked gently, grasping her chin with two fingers and urging her to look at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sakura said dryly, before snatching her face away from his grasp.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said, moving to stand up. "Have it your way. Ignore the problem, and let it grow. Let it create a problem for us." He didn't leave any room for arguments as he started stripping his clothes and walking towards the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower," he announced, sounding inviting. "And if you're really not insecure about your body, then you're going to join me and you're going to let me do unspeakable things to it."

He sounded so arrogant and sexy that she couldn't help but to blush, despite her frustrated state. Her stomach pooled hotly at the image of her lover pounding into her like an animal during a steamy shower, and immediately she hated herself as she realised how fast she was letting go of her anger.

Damnit.

.

.

"Sasuke."

The urge to smirk was almost too overwhelming, but the man decided to keep it at bay as he turned towards the voice, a glint of satisfaction shining in his eyes when he took in the sight of his naked girlfriend entering the bathroom.

"Hm?"

The hum hadn't even finished leaving his mouth before it was tackled harshly by another set of lips. Her hands wandered over him and touched him everywhere, eliciting small groans out of him, and it was evident that she was trying to prove a point. But Sasuke knew his earlier assumptions had been correct, and he was proven right when she flinched the moment he grasped a small breast. Deciding to reassure her of her beauty in the only other way he could think of, he grasped her hip with his free hand and started roughly pushing her backwards until they reached the bathroom sink.

"Sas—"

He caught the rest of his gasped out name in his mouth, running his hands all over her body and making little grunts of appreciation to show her how much he loved it. When she still twisted to hide herself, Sasuke decided he had to take this up to the next level.

"I fucking love your ass," he growled in her ear, groping the area aggressively. Her high pitched squeal and incredibly pleased blush made him smirk in triumph. "So firm and smooth," he muttered vehemently, fondling both cheeks sensually. "My favorite place to touch when I'm fucking you from behind."

She moaned wantonly in response, flushing deeper, gyrating her hips into his harshly. He knew she was turned on because of his foul mouth and the way he talked to her—he was never one for dirty talk, after all. Pleased by her reaction, he concluded his plan was working.

"I love your breasts, too." One of his hands left her butt and trailed up sensually, making its way to her chest. He slipped his tongue inside her mouth as he started squeezing the supple skin in his hand, swallowing the moan that escaped her. "So fucking soft," he panted as they broke the kiss. "And perky, too." He squeezed again and groaned pleasurably to prove his point.

Her brows furrowed. "They aren't too small?" She moaned out, running her nails over his back as she continued to grind their hips together.

Sasuke kissed her fiercely, then, almost as if he was punishing her. Then he turned her around in one abrupt movement, lips attacking her neck passionately while he grasped her breasts again. "Perfect for my hands," he whispered hotly, stroking them the way he knew she liked.

He saw her eyes diverting from her reflection in the mirror and growled. "You're so fucking hot," he panted in her ear, thrusting wantonly against her, as if he was losing his control. "Just look at yourself—look at what you do to me." He was pleased when she conceded and looked at their reflections, gasping at what she saw. He nipped at her jaw and groped her ass again. "Drive me nuts," he groaned against her skin.

"You don't think that I'm not—"

Suddenly, he slammed into her, effectively shutting her up.

"You're fucking perfect," Sasuke hissed in her ear, starting a series of steady thrusts that made her eyes flow shut in absolutely pleasure.

"Don't close your eyes," he ground out, slamming into her punishingly. "Look at me fucking you. See how beautiful you are."

Her heart skipped a beat at that, and she snapped her eyes open, staring directly into his eyes, which seemed a lot more vulnerable than they were before. His gaze was heated and sexy in every way, but she detected the traces of affection and honesty in there and it made her breath catch.

It was the first time he had ever said she was beautiful.

"Sasuke," she choked, tearing up a bit while she reached backwards grasped his hip tightly. She started moving backwards into him, creating a rhythm that made them both moan deeply. He threw an arm around her breasts and left butterfly kisses all over her skin, murmuring hot, sensual words. She cried out when they picked up their pace, and it was then that they completely lost themselves to each other.

And while Sakura couldn't stand looking at her reflection in the beginning, she couldn't tear her gaze away, now. She couldn't look away from their heatedly engaged bodies. Her eyes trailed all over her body, following the trail that his hands and mouth made, then zeroing on the area where their sexes met before she resumed watching him touch her. She didn't feel self-conscious anymore, not when she witnessed how crazy her body drove him, and how he basically worshipped it with his hands and lips.

But watching them in the act, watching how they moved together in perfect sync and how they turned each other on so much, watching as they both cried out their release and rode them out together—that was what really did it for her. It was the sexiest thing she'd ever seen in her life.

"Don't ever think you look anything less than perfect, Sakura," he rasped into her ear as they both came down from their high, "Because you are flawless to me."

Perhaps on another day, in different circumstances, his words would have been nothing but cheesy and cliché. But today, in that very moment, those were the words she wanted to hear.

Those were the words that swept away her insecurity.

* * *

**A/N:** _Ending was a little rushed, but I really wanted to finish this up tonight. I will fix it when I'm done with the month._

_I know it's really not my best, but I hope it was still enjoyable. :)_

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	20. the way you grab me must wanna get nasty

**Title: **the way you grab me must wanna get nasty  
**Summary:** First he hated the beach. Then they started dating, and he loved it.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Paradise  
**Rating:** T  
**Warning(s):** OOC Sasuke. Probably.  
**Comments:** SASUSAKU AT THE BEACH WITH A PINCH OF NARUTO.

* * *

He loved the sun.

Sasuke would never openly admit to it if anyone asked, but he absolutely adored lying around to sunbathe and took every opportunity to do so.

And so it was no wonder that Sasuke actually enjoyed the beach. In fact, these days, it was actually his favorite place to be.

It wasn't always this way, though. At first, Sasuke hated the beach: sand got everywhere (still does, up to this day), was too hot to walk barefoot on (still is, too), and made it impossible or very unpleasant to properly apply sunscreen (what was it with sand sticking to skin even without water?). Then there was the water: seaweed smelling, murky looking, and holding next to no visibility, most of the time. Sasuke didn't like stepping on stones and barnacles, or feeling something brush against his feet while being unable to know what it was. Not to mention the people who flapped their towels and sent sand flying in his face and sometimes his _food_. Or the occasional people who didn't have the decency to keep a distance as they ran in the sand, effectively kicking some in his direction.

And then… and then there was _Sakura_. She made everything worse with her barely covered body. Prancing around him like a total tease; chopped pink locks breezing in the wind under a cute straw hat; her perky breasts bouncing and shining with perspiration; her toned legs drawing unwanted male attention, as well as his own; a taut stomach that made him swallow down whimpers; and most of all a beautiful, firm, tight ass that had him holding back a nosebleed every time it came into view.

She had absolutely no idea how torturous it was to watch her play ball or swim in the water (especially when she came out of it, dripping wet and glimmering), or how much of a hard time he had holding himself back when she sunbathed beside him in all her jaw-dropping glory. She had no idea how absolutely _hard_ he got every time she _moaned_ about how 'deliciously hot this day was'. The amount of time he ran to the water with shinobi speed to cool himself off was ridiculous.

She made his almost torturous day at the beach turn into complete hell.

However, that was before they started dating.

_After_ they started dating, _that's_ when the beach became one of Sasuke's favorite places to be.

.

.

.

"Damnit."

Hearing the surprising curse fall from his girlfriend's lips, Sasuke blinked and turned his head in her direction, tan hands pausing in the motion of unrolling a big old blanket—Sakura had recently proven to him how much more comfortable they were compared to towels, and how sand didn't get on it as easily—on the beach ground for the both of them.

"What?" he asked. But when he noticed the way she angrily stared down—

At her sand-and-sunscreen covered hands.

He smirked lightly. "I thought I told you to be careful on our way here."

"You did," Sakura replied, irritation clear in her tone. "It was an accident."

"Obviously," he muttered, rolling his eyes, but still a little too amused at her predicament. "Here," he said, as he finished settling the blanket. He reached for the bottle of sunscreen with one hand, and for her wrist with the other.

She only looked questionable for a brief moment, before she caught up and smiled. "Thanks, Sasuke-kun," she said, turning her back to him and lifting her hair up.

It was wildly unnecessary for him to kiss her neck a little before applying sunscreen there, but he did it anyway, just because he felt like it—the way she leaned into him and smiled sweetly told him she liked it, anyway. Smiling secretively to himself, he gave her jaw a light kiss before smearing the cream over her back in slow, sensual movements, taking his time to enjoy every little curve and area of her body. It was hard not to smirk when her eyes slipped shut in want when he reached her stomach and massaged the area hotly.

Sasuke loved rubbing sunblock on her skin.

"You tease," she hissed, leaning back into his shirtless chest. "I swear, you always do this."

"You're the one who always manages to get sand on your hands," he retorted, pulling her tight against him. "Sometimes I think you do that on purpose all the time, just so I can touch you," he whispered, lips hot against her ear. "It's no wonder we end up getting all serious in the wat—"

"I'm going to be sick," a new voice called, sounding nauseated.

They both jolted away in surprise, the heated mood quickly dissipating as they spotted their blonde best friend looking at them with shocked, disturbed features. Naruto looked nothing short of mortified.

"What do you—"

"You guys _did it in the water_?!"

Sakura winced at the shrieking tone and blushed, trying her best to seem casual, while Sasuke merely smirked.

.

.

.

"You know, he's never gonna get over that," Sakura pointed out, as she crossed her arms behind her head and sighed contentedly into the heat of the sun.

The rays were hitting them full-on, and they had both settled onto the blankets about twenty minutes ago, enjoying the delightful heat and light of this amazing summer day. Sasuke was on his stomach, face buried in his muscled arms, and although she had the most wonderful view of his sexy back, she couldn't help but to stare at their troubled friend and giggle.

"I think we've traumatised him."

"It's not like he never had a reason," Sasuke replied, a little teasingly. "He did catch us that time in the living room two mon—"

"Sasuke!" his girlfriend exclaimed, laughing. "Don't remind me," she chided, softly slapping his back. "I've been trying to forget the mortifying experience, like I'm sure he has too."

Her boyfriend let out a low chuckle, before he turned his head to look at her. His breath seemed to catch a little when he did—she looked absolutely stunning in that cherry red bikini, the light hitting her just the right way.

"What?" she asked, when she noticed him staring. "Is something wrong? Is there something on my face?" She reached and patted her face urgently, horrified.

Sasuke's eyes softened. "Nothing," he murmured, hiding his smile. "Nothing at all."

She was perfect.

.

.

.

"Now you're the one being the tease," Sasuke hissed as he felt slim arms wrap around his waist for behind and a wet, tight body pressing into him. Her soft breasts were squishing against his back and he shut his eyes with mild annoyance, trying to keep from tackling her.

"Payback," Sakura murmured in his head, pressing hot kisses to his neck. She slipped her hands under water and to his hard abs, tracing the lines seductively. "You know, we could always just slip in the deep end again and have our own little fun," she whispered against his skin, slipping her hands down a little more. She heard him catch his breath and smirked. "It was really fun, last time."

"If you think you can be quiet," he growled back, grasping her hands tightly and keeping them from wandering in all too inappropriate places while they were still in shallow water. He turned to face her and gave her a deep, forceful kiss, arms slipping around her naked back tightly so he could pull her closer. "You almost blew our cover last time."

"I can be quiet," she replied through hot kisses, slipping her hands through his hair. "I promise." Her lips went to his jaw. "Just do me. I need you now."

_God_ he loved her. She was absolutely crazy, and he loved her knack for adventurous escapades.

"You know the dobe is gonna be suspicious right?" Sasuke said, fiddling with the strings of her top. "Since he knows we've already done it in the water?"

"Whatever."

Sasuke chuckled and tackled her under water, lips slipping over hers in an incredibly sensual kiss, wanton hands caressing her ass softly. When he felt her return the erotic kiss, he smiled sexily, slipping his tongue inside her mouth briefly before he resurfaced them both from water. She was terribly out of breath, having been completely unprepared for such a gesture. Sasuke took pride in this, smirking fiercely as he ran a hand through his wet hair and pushed it out of his face. The way her eyes narrowed as she tackled him underwater again, upon noticing his smirk, made his heart hasten with anticipation.

He loved the beach. It was paradise.

* * *

**A/N**: _I'm back! I was gone for half a week at my best friend's place and I actually wanted to get some writing done, but I am not even kidding on the first day I got there my laptop fell from the table and the charger broke. LITERALLY. I was like, SHIT. I was lucky the laptop itself didn't break (it's on the verge, though, I've been waiting for it to die for a couple months now. I got the warning saying my battery needed to be changed so ANY DAY NOW) but the charger? The perfectly working charger? Aw, damnit. So I had to wait till I got back today to use the spare and work on my prompts._

_Explanation aside, I'm giving a heads up that the next prompts will be either really short or shorter than average. I want to catch up to the present, lol!_

_Hope you enjoyed, though :) Even if I think it's super shitty. XD_

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	21. hiding my heart away

**Title: **hiding my heart away  
**Summary:** Her words swayed him, her heart claimed him, but her eyes were his Achilles Heel.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Achilles Heel  
**Rating:** K  
**Warning(s):** ANGST. A little swearing.  
**Comments: **Who misses pre-shippuden? Because honestly these latest manga chapters are shit. WE GET IT OBITO IS EVIL AND CANNOT BE REDEEMED, CAN YOU FUCKING MOVE ON TO FIGHTING NOW AND SOME WINNING BECAUSE HE'S TOO MARY SUE RIGHT NOW. Agree? Here, have some pre-shippuden SasuSaku.

* * *

Her eyes were his weakness.

He had always known, since the Forest of Death, how powerless he was against them.

They made him increasingly aware of his state of mind, made him realize how far he'd gone; they made him forget his fury, forget the darkness, forget everything else but the love that was in her eyes. A love that calmed him, reassured him, made him _breathe_. They portrayed everything she felt about him: love, fear, worry, affection, anger, sadness, _happiness_ and _trust_. He was able to understand her feelings and interpret her actions with a single look.

And she was able to weaken his resolve with a simple stare.

Whenever he saw that deep worry in her forest green eyes, whenever he saw just how much she cared for his wellbeing, both mental and physical, whenever he saw the tears and the love and the fear—he caved. He always, always caved.

This was why he couldn't look at her, the night he deserted Konoha and encountered her on his way out. This was why he could do nothing but walk past her after telling her, with closed eyes, to go home and sleep. This was why his back remained to her, even during her confession—no, _especially_ during her confession. He didn't know if he could have walked out of there that night, had he seen those eyes full of tears and love and hope and promises and—

No. No, he couldn't have.

Even her words of forever and always, and happy endings—even those were almost enough to make him stay. Almost. But it was those words, those retched words spoken in a tone so incredibly sad and sure, like she believed them to be true, those filthy, incorrect words of hate—

_("You've always hated me, haven't you Sasuke-kun?")_

—that made him look back. Words that angered him and saddened him at the same time, words that he needed to prove her wrong about.

_No, I don't fucking hate you, _he remembered thinking angrily._ Don't you see it, Sakura? Don't you fucking see it? I care about you guys too much! That's why I need to leave, because I care about __**you**__ and the dobe too much! __**Too damn much.**_

He had to look at her then, had to make her understand that he didn't hate her and he never hated her, he just hated his brother and—damnit.

So he turned. And he smirked, gently. And he threw back words in her face—words he claimed he hadn't remembered saying to her. Proved to her that he didn't hate her, in his own way.

And then there was shock and realization and love and _hopehopehope_ in her eyes and he just had to wrench himself away from her before he caved—before those big, beautiful eyes succeeded in making him stay.

He fisted his pocketed hands tightly and gritted his teeth, then, forcing himself to walk away from her and forget everything. But then she started shouting after him desperately, quick feet scurrying on the pavement, running after him to try and keep him here but—

_("If you go, I'll scream and—!")_

—but he wouldn't let it happen. He couldn't.

So he disappeared behind her.

His breath puffed against her mop of pink hair, fisted hands still in his pockets, and eyes as soft and as guilty as ever.

_Stop it,_ he pleaded in his mind. _Stop making it so hard for me, stop trying to make me see how hard it would be to lose me because I know, I know and I—_

"Sakura," he called, almost gently.

_I don't want to do this. I don't want to leave you, and the dobe. But I have to. I don't have a choice_—

His heart ached.

"Thank you."

His fingers hit a pressure point, and her body collapsed forward. His arms slipped around her before she could hit the ground. His eyes softened again.

He carried her over to the stone bench lying a few feet away from them, and gently put her down, fingers interlocking with hers for a brief moment.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

—_because you make me weak. You are my Achilles Heel._

* * *

**A/N**: _I did warn you some might be really short. Don't whine, at least it's decent. _

_Do I have to mention again how much I hate the reviews who just tell me to update soon? Because I'm starting to get pissed off. If that's all you've got to say, don't bother. This might make me sound snobbish but whatever, I mean what good does it do to me? It just makes me feel rushed and like fanfiction is my job. Please stop doing that._

_On the upside, next update should be tonight, hopefully, and should be longer than this one but not by much._

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	22. when love is lost, a ghost is found

**Title: **where love is lost, a ghost is found  
**Summary:** Just once, she wanted to hear him say it. Even if he didn't mean it.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Numb  
**Rating:** T  
**Warning(s):** LOTS OF BLOOD AND A BIT OF GORE. ANGST. SO MUCH ANGST. And swearing (this should be a given, every time there is angst).  
**Comments:** Something is wrong with me why are my prompts almost always angtsy, THEY NEED FLUFF. Also, I am not a doctor, so all the medical things here might be majorly inaccurate. I got all my information from the internet, and you know how that can be…

* * *

"What the hell did you do that for, Sakura?!"

He was screaming at her—he had been screaming at her for the past five minutes, ever since she shoved him away from an explosion and took the brunt of the blast. She sustained many grave injuries in his place: her left side was brutally damaged with deep lacerations and severe burns and there was even a piece of flesh above her hip that was barely hanging on; her left arm was broken and mangled terribly, and a large, uneven piece of wood had settled itself painfully on the right side of her abdomen.

"I could have dodged it, you know that! You stupid girl, always so careless and—"

"I get it, Sasuke-kun," she told him softly, keeping pressure on the wounds on her side while her face twisted painfully. "You're mad at me."

"You're damn right I am!" he yelled back, muttering furiously under his breath while he watched the positions of her hand in an analytical, vigilant manner. It wasn't long before he pushed it away and replaced it with his own, maintaining the exact same position and pressure. "You better heal yourself, Sakura," he snarled when he noticed her drooping eyes and shallow breathing. "I'm not through with you yet, _so you better fucking heal yourself_!"

Her lips twitched up lightly in response.

"Teme!"

Finally, their other teammate was done dealing with the ambushers. He wanted to sigh, but now was not the time to be relieved—Sakura's life was still well in the clutch of death. If they didn't get help fast she would—

Sasuke's muscles tensed, and he whipped his head up to give his approaching best friend a violent look. "Get a _fucking_ medic, Naruto!"

"But is she—"

"YOU'RE WASTING TIME, YOU IDIOT!" The pure desperation and distress in the Uchiha's voice was enough to make him stumble back in shock. Sasuke's fear of losing her was clear and strong. "SHE NEEDS A MEDIC NOW!"

Ocean blue eyes brimmed with tears, but instead of protesting of his want to be with his former crush, Naruto bolted in the direction of the nearest village, choking sobs and trying to keep down anguished pleads.

"Sasuke-kun," he heard his bleeding teammate gasp, before coughing glibly. "Sasuke-kun, you can let go now."

"What are you—"

The sight of her mostly healed side made him catch his breath. The piece of flesh which had previously only barely been hanging on was completely reattached and healed, and most of the deep slashes and burns had been tended to, leaving only healthy pink skin in return. Only a few shallow gashes and scalds remained. She had healed the critical.

His heart started pounding in relief when he realized how she wasn't bleeding as profusely as before.

"You told me to heal myself," she strained to say, breathing heavily. "I did the worst part."

Dark eyes moved away from her previously deteriorated side, and gently caught her gaze, jaw slackening as he took in the sight of her sweat-covered, panting, and _proud_ face. He couldn't find the words to say to her, all that was running through his mind was,_ I almost lost her, for fuck's sake. Oh god, I almost lost her to some stupid mistake!_

Then, he was angry again.

"You fucking idiot," he hissed, grasping the side of her neck firmly. "You stupid, determined, fucking _idiot_."

The sparkle in her eye lessened.

"You almost just got yourself killed!" He growled, grasping right shoulder with his free hand. "You almost just got yourself killed for _me_! Do you know how stupid that is?!" He shook her strongly. "What did you think you were doing, Sakura?! You know I could have dodged it, why did you—"

What happened next was way too fast for him to process.

Her eyes started losing focus fast, then rolled at the back of her head. She started hyperventilating, and then her whole body started seizing.

Sasuke's hands shot off in surprise. He didn't know what to do, didn't know how to take it all in—one minute she was fine, then the next she was—

No. _No_. Her body couldn't be going into shock—he had nothing to treat it with!

Panic started to rise in his system, making his whole body shake, and he felt so helpless kneeling in front of her, watching the life leave her and—

Gradually, it stopped. Her seizing subsided, little by little. Focus returned in her eyes. She stopped hyperventilating.

"What just happened," Sasuke whispered, hands trembling terribly as he reached to touch her cheek. Panic still swam in the pit of his stomach as he fought to understand what had just transpired in these past few moments, as he struggled to take in how close he had been to losing her again.

"Hypotension," she gasped out, panting harshly. "I think—I think my liver is pierced, Sasuke-kun." Her good hand trailed to touch the piece of wood planted deeply in her abdomen. "I think my body might be going into hypovolemic shock soon," she went on, face twisting into pained features. "You gotta take this thing out so I can—"

"No way!" Sasuke hissed, grasping her wrist tightly. "You don't have enough chakra!"

"I've got to try, Sasuke-kun! I can maybe close the wound quickly enough so that I don't bleed out and go in shock—"

"I don't want to risk your life on maybes!" he yelled out, tugging it away from the piece of wood again. "Just wait a little bit and Naruto will come back with a medic, and they're gonna fix you up and—"

Her eyes softened. "Sasuke-kun," she interrupted gently, sadly. "I don't have much time. Maybe just a few minutes." She reached to cup his face, smearing blood all over his cheek.

"But—"

"Please."

The fight left him.

"…Okay," he whispered, closing his eyes. "Okay, fine."

She gave a bloody smile. "On the count of three," she said. "One, two—"

Scream.

.

.

No… please no…

"NARUTO!"

"Sasuke-kun…"

_Please don't it this happen. Don't let it be true._

"NARUTO!"

"Sasuke-kun, stop…"

_Please don't let it be her. I can't lose her._

"_NARUTO_!"

"Sasuke-kun, please." There was a light tugging on his short, and he tipped his head down to look at her with furious, anxious eyes. "Please, stop. It's no use."

"I told him to find a medic, I told him to fucking find one," Sasuke hissed, trying not to lessen or strengthen the pressure on her profusely bleeding stomach. "That fucking idiot, that stupid little—"

"Sasuke-kun," she breathed, touching his hand gently. "It's not his fault. It's not Naruto's fault."

His shoulders slumped, and he gritted his teeth, refusing to believe this was happening. "You can't die," he said hoarsely, slipping his eyes shut tightly. "You can't."

"I'm sorry," she replied, breathless and teary. "I'm sorry I made you risk it."

There was a silence, as Sasuke stood there and tried to keep her from bleeding out—as Sakura fought to stay awake, as she fought the numbness.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun...?"

He swallowed, looking over at her dulling green eyes. "…Yeah?"

"Do you think you can… do me a favor… before I die?"

The words made his stomach lurch.

"Yeah," he said, voice tight but shaky. He grasped her hand gently and squeezed, willing her to stay awake. "Yeah, anything."

Beat.

"Tell me you love me."

He stiffened. "Wha—"

"Please. Just this once." She squeezed his hand weakly. "I know you don't but just… just pretend for me, yeah?" She swallowed the lump in her throat and coughed wetly, blood bubbling from her lips, before closing her eyes. "Please."

Sasuke swallowed, too. "Sakura…"

"I know… I know it's selfish," she said. "I know that. But… I kinda deserve it, don't I?"

The knowing look in her eyes and soft, bloody smile made his heart ache painfully.

"Aa," he agreed eventually, smiling sadly in return. He took a deep breath, and shifted their hands so that their fingers intertwined. He couldn't help but to squeeze tightly, as the reality of her incoming death settled in the pit of his stomach.

After this, he would lose her. After this, she would be gone.

There would be no more Sakura in his life.

"I lov—"

"SASUKE!"

His heart soared in relief, hope springing to life, scenarios of a future full of pink and green playing in his mind relentlessly—

"Sasuke…-kun!"

—only to come crashing down with shuddering excruciation when the girl started a coughing fit and started seizing again, the grip on his hand going limp, and precious green eyes rolling at the back of her head.

"MEDIC!"

"She's here, Sasuke, the medic's here she'll—"

"_MEDIC_!"

"Sasuke, stop screaming, she's here, Sakura is gonna be fine—"

Then, he saw it. Felt it. The way her body came to an abrupt stop, the way her pulse seized in single, heartbreaking moment.

His heart sank.

_No. No. No, no, no, no, no. __**No**__. _

"Sakura…?" he queried, body trembling all over as he looked at the unmoving body in front of him. He looked at the medic, who was furiously working on her, but her look of distress told him everything he needed to know. "Sakura," he called, squeezing her limp hand. "Sakura!"

No response.

_Please. __**Please**__._

"_Sakura_!" he tried again, desperate for something—anything! "Sakura, god damnit, _wake up_!"

_You didn't even let me tell you, you didn't even hear it, so please. God damnit, please._

"_SAKURA_!"

.

.

.

"I love you," he whispered down at the lifeless woman, voice hoarse. He pulled her tight against his chest, burying his face in her unruly pink hair. "I love you…"

"Teme," his best friend choked out, voice strained and incredibly sad. "You really mean it, don't you? You really love her, don't you?"

Sasuke only tightened his hold on her, something like a sob tearing from his lips as he shook his head.

And for the first time in a long, long while, he let himself cry.

.

.

.

.

They stayed there, for a while.

Sasuke held her tight and his hands through wet, mud-matted hair, muttering nonsense while he stared at the puddle of blood on the ground with wide, disbelieving eyes. Naruto was beside them both, crying and sobbing and howling, gripping his best friend's shoulder tightly with one hand, while the other held Sakura's limp, cold hand.

_(both unable to let go, unable to accept it, unable to believe that this was happening. both numb with sadness.)_

The medic stranger stood on the sideline with a bowed head and a sad frown.

_(guilty and shamed, mourning for a girl she did not know, for another patient lost)_

Then, Sasuke cupped her cheek with one hand, and the base of her throat with her other. His mouth neared hers for a final, melancholic goodbye.

_(He had to let her go.)_

And then, he felt it.

A heartbeat.

.

.

"Medic!"

* * *

**A/N**: _Woopsie, I got caught up in horror movies. Lol. Will be skipping 23, and 25-28. I'd like to do 29-31. So that's… four prompts to go! I thought about apologizing for the lateness for this one but then I remembered that this is for fun so why am I putting myself deadlines? I have a feeling I'll still be putting up prompts I wanna do after the month if I'm not done._

_I'M SORRY FOR SO MUCH ANGST AND SADNESS, BY THE WAY. JUST TELL YOURSELF THAT THE MEDIC WASN'T TOO LATE IN HEALING HER (I believe the human body has 20 minutes to be revived before they are actually pronounced dead? Something like that?) BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I'M DOING. AND IM SORRY FOR THE RUSHED ENDING, I'LL FIX IT WHEN I'M DONE WITH THE MONTH OKAY? Hope it was still enjoyable. _

_AND TO THE ANONYMOUS GUEST REVIEWER WHO SAID MY WRITING WAS DISAPPOINTING BECAUSE IT SHOULD BE GETTING BETTER WITH THE MONTHS: FUCK YOU. HOW DARE YOU EVEN COMPARE MY DRABBLE SERIES TO MY ACTUAL MULTI-CHAPTERED FICS. HOW FUCKING DARE YOU. THESE PROMPTS ARE WRITTEN IN A DAY, OR AT THE MOST TWO, AND SOME ARE VERY FORCED AND HALF-ASSED. HOW DARE YOU TELL ME MY WRITING IS DISAPPOINTING COMPARED TO BEFORE, HOW DARE YOU EVEN COMPARE MONTHS OF WORKING ON A SINGLE CHAPTER TO A DAY WRITTEN PROMPT. SERIOUSLY. FUCK. YOU._

_Most frustrating part of it all is that you can't disable anonymous reviews anymore. Ugh. _

_Love ya'll who are smarter than this person and know the damn difference. You're precious bbys. _

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	23. you are what i never knew i needed

**Title: **you are what I never knew I needed  
**Summary:** He didn't expect her to have stayed exactly the same, but he expected some things to never change.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Outgrown  
**Rating:** K  
**Warning(s):** None.  
**Comments:** I believe something like this could actually happen in canon-verse (I don't believe Kishi would put this in, though).

* * *

It wasn't until Sasuke had truly come back to the village that he realized just how much Sakura had changed.

Of course, he'd witnessed her immense prowess in battle from the moment she'd pummeled those Juubi clones in the War, and he'd even smirked in pride at the major improvement, but he hadn't really had the time to notice just how much she had changed personality and behavior-wise until he officially came back and started hanging around them again nearly every day.

For example, she didn't ask him out anymore, something she used to do incredibly often, prior to his departure. He didn't expect to have her try every day she saw him, but he expected she would let it slip, every once in a while—especially with the way she was constantly blushing and smiling around him. She still acted shy and nervous in his presence, and she still stole discreet little glances in his direction when she thought he wasn't looking… but there were no more proposals of late night dinners or moonlit walks.

Instead, Sakura was seemingly content simply being at his side as nothing more than a supporting friend and comrade. She never bothered to hide her feelings for him—and he was honestly flabbergasted how open she was about it—but she never pushed them unto him either, which surprised Sasuke a lot, initially. Didn't she want to be with him? Didn't she desire to pursue him? Wasn't love bland, without the chase? Why wasn't she trying to enrapture him? Why wasn't she trying to make herself seem as a genuine love interest in his eyes, instead choosing to have proper conversations and interactions with him? Why was she simply aiming to be his friend, his support—someone he could turn to when things went bad?

It was all too baffling.

And when he confronted her about it months later, when he became fed up with not knowing, she simply smiled and told him that it was because she knew he did not feel the same, and that even if he _did_, he did not need this kind of thing right now. He had more complicated things to deal with—working things out with the Kages, getting Itachi recognized as a hero, changing the system, and restoring the honor and good name of his Clan being some of them—and she didn't want to add to all the pressure.

"You don't have time for love," she said. "But you need me and Naruto and Kakashi to be there if you fall—you need us to be compassionate and caring and strong. We're your family, and I can't ruin that with a silly little thing called unrequited feelings." Her smile was a little pained, but it was understanding and kind.

"You need my love, Sasuke-kun," she said. "But you don't need it forced onto you."

He was speechless.

Sakura had evidently far outgrown her weak, shallow fangirl days, and he was exceedingly not used to it.

He couldn't believe that she was so mature, attentive and understanding with his situation; couldn't believe that she was still putting him first, after all the pain and tears and disappointment that he made her feel for the past few years; couldn't believe she wasn't looking for a little compensation.

It would take a while, he realized, to get adapted to this new Sakura.

And he also realized how it would be so very, very easy to fall for her now.

* * *

**A/N**: _This will be my last 'official' prompt submitted to the sasusaku month. I'm unable to legitimately submit the other prompts since the month is ended… but no worries, I will post my drabbles of the other prompts anyway. They just can't be submitted to the official page. Also, if I do end up not being able to use one of the remaining prompts to continue the series of 'Flood' and 'Accidents Happen' don't fret! I will continue that series and close it up. ^^ I'm planning on doing the SasuSaku 2012 challenge sets and some prompts will no doubt pop up for continuity of those two :)_

_Shortest prompt yet, but I thought it was nice just like that._

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	24. finally content, with a past i regret

**Title: **finally content with a past i regret  
**Summary:** She thought she could have him, but then she met Sakura. It was clear where his heart really lied.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Diary/Journal  
**Rating:** K  
**Warning(s):** Onesided SasuKarin. Some angst.  
**Comments:** Could be wildly not fitting to your views of SasuKarin, especially if you ship it a little. But this is kind of how I see them. KIND OF being the keyword here. It gets crack by like half of this chapter.

* * *

Diary,

I want him.

I want him, I desire him, I lust for him—sometimes I even think I need him.

And maybe at some point, I even loved him a little.

But I can't have him.

I never had him, either. Never even had a chance, even when we were side by side nearly every day—even when I fought by his side in his most troubling times. Not like he let me in, but I was still there, wasn't I? I was still there when she wasn't.

I remember thinking I could have him. I remember thinking that if I stayed there, if I healed him and talked to him and came off unto him… if I was there, like she never was in his time away, then he would eventually fall for me. He would open his eyes one day and see that I was there—see that I have always been there. In his most crucial times anyway.

But he didn't. And I guess… I guess I should have expected that. He was so hellbent on revenge—I should have known he wouldn't have wasted time on love, right?

Even there… I wonder if things would have still went the same between me and him, had he given up on his revenge. Had he just been a talented, beautiful ninja training under Orochimaru's mentorship, haven deserted his home village because of their weakness. I wonder, then, if we would have fallen in love.

Oh, who am I kidding? I still would have never had a chance.

And why? Because she has him wrapped around her little finger. Always had, really. I mean, it's not like I always knew. To be honest, I've only come to this realization recently—as in, a week or two ago. It wasn't that hard to figure out, though. I guess I just had to put my feelings aside to see it.

For instance, I always wondered why cherry blossom trees made him pause, on our travelling days. It'd be subtle, but I could catch the way he stiffened lightly every time we passed one. He'd stop for a brief second, head tilting towards the pink tree, before all too suddenly his eyes would narrow and he would continue on his way, his steps holding a little more force than usual. I wouldn't think much of it, at the time. I'd just ignore it.

But then I met her. And I thought about how oddly she reminded me of Sakura trees, with that hair of a perfect pink shade the color of—

"Oh," I remembered sighing. "Oh."

And I knew, then. I knew it was the memory of her that made him flinch every time he saw a cherry blossom tree—I knew that someway, somehow, she was in his heart, no matter how much he disliked it. I knew, then, that part of the reason he left was because he cared a little too much about that pink haired girl. Because he might have begun falling for her, and he couldn't let it happen.

Couldn't being the keyword, here. Because it's not that he didn't want to let it happen, but that he couldn't. Not right now, anyway.

I'm sad, diary. I'm upset I couldn't be that person to him, not even just a little.

.

.

.

Diary,

Sakura invited me to lunch today. I don't know why. She and Sasuke were on their way to Ichiraku's after a sparring session, judging from the way their shirts were stained and their bodies still glistened, and when she saw me on my way back home, she invited me along.

Of course, I couldn't refuse an opportunity to be close to Sasuke, so I accepted.

I know now, that I shouldn't have.

I did get to sit beside Sasuke, and I did have some mild conversations with him, but he also flinched uncomfortably every time I got too close to him, and he kept the subject of our conversations on the professional level.

And if he wasn't sitting so close to Sakura, if his body wasn't leaning towards hers, if their arms weren't brushing every so often, and if their conversations didn't center around their personal lives, then I wouldn't have thought much of it. I would have just brushed it off.

But he did do all those things. And that's what made me see the place I had with Sasuke: a comrade—maybe a friend—that he worked well with during missions, and whose physical wellbeing he looked after. Someone he could count on, someone who was reliable, someone he trusted—but someone he did not let in, regardless. Someone he did not let down his walls for, much less let her break them.

He wasn't willing to let me into his personal life. He didn't want to.

And here's what's breaking my heart the most, diary: with Sakura, it was that he couldn't let her in. But with me? It's that he wouldn't.

This makes me so angry, diary. It makes me so upset and sad and livid and betrayed. What does she have that I don't? What makes her so special?

I hate her. I hate her, I hater her, I hate her! She took him away from me, and I will never be able to forgive that.

.

.

.

Diary,

I had lunch with Sakura again. But we were alone, this time. And she also sought me out, this time.

I still don't know why.

She was very pleasant with me, asking me how I've been doing and if it's been hard readjusting, and even offering to find me a better place than the one I was living at. Apparently, having a shitty landlord wasn't going to stand, and she wouldn't let him rip off my money out of spite for being an ex-Sound nin.

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to respond to this kind of kindness. Everyone here was so edgy with me—it wasn't every day that someone acted this considerate.

So I called her out on it, accusing her of trying to soften a blow because wasn't that what she was doing? Wasn't she going to steal something from me, or do something to me? Wasn't she trying to hide something? Or maybe she was on a mission to welcome me and she was faking it all too hard?

Sakura just smiled at me. And then she laughed, so genuinely.

"You're silly, Karin," she said to me. "I'm here and I want to help because I like you. I want to get to know you better."

I remember being suspicious again when the happy sparkle faded a bit. I thought, this was it! This was the moment I could call her out for being a liar! Because she is faking!

But then she just smiled again, softer and a little sadder. "And because I want to thank you for taking care of Sasuke all these years, when I wasn't able to."

Sakura is good at making me speechless, I tell you. Always the right words, always the right look. Always sincere. I'm beginning to see why Sasuke let his guards down for her. I'm beginning to see what's so different about me and her.

She can make you feel loved with just a single look. She can make you feel like it's okay to be yourself with a single smile. She can make you understand that she will always be there with her compassionate silence. And she conveys everything with her eyes.

And you know what? It's becoming so hard to hate her. I don't think I can do it anymore.

.

.

.

Diary,

Sakura, she… she has him in the palm of her hand. She has his heart.

And you know what the worst part about that is? She doesn't have a single clue. She doesn't have a freaking clue but it's so… it's so damn obvious!

He walks her home, pays for her meals, picks her up from work, makes her dinner, brings her surprise coffee at the office on her long days… and he even makes her stay over at his place by purposefully keeping her around until it is 'too late and dangerous to walk home'.

How could she not pick up on any of that? Especially coming from him?

I have half a mind to march right up to her and tell her! She was supposed to be smart! Ugh, do you have any idea how frustrating that is? Watching the man that I want and need and envy her for, watching him trying so hard to give her a hint, while she just brushes off every action as temporary weird behavior.

I mean...

Konoha ninjas, seriously.

.

.

.

Diary,

I just realized after writing my previous entry that I do not feel a tiny bit remorseful towards Sakura.

Why doesn't the idea of Sasuke chasing her make me bitter? Instead, I'm only frustrated she's not picking up on it.

Shouldn't I be happy?

.

.

.

Diary,

I punched Sasuke today, for the first time ever.

He made Sakura really upset today, along with a handful of other people that I now call friends (and damn do I appreciate them a whole lot, those motherfuckers are awesome).

So obviously someone had to teach him a lesson. And me, having a whole lot of rage for him in my system, I volunteered for that.

I'd like to say this wouldn't be the last time punching him, but Sakura made me promise to never do it again—so she could.

I'm still rooting for them. Is something wrong with me?

.

.

.

Diary,

It's been a week since Sakura left on her mission.

I've never seen Sasuke moping around so bad.

Seriously?

.

.

.

Diary,

Still not angry, or bitter at their developing relationship.

I'm beginning to think I might have gotten over him.

I mean, even the sight of him all hot and sweaty after a mission doesn't make me tingle anymore.

.

.

.

Diary,

I saw Sasuke openly flirt for the first time today.

I'm cringing.

What the fuck, dude.

.

.

.

Diary,

I told Sasuke to grow some balls and ask her out, because I was getting tired of seeing him being subtle.

I don't think I've ever seen him so shocked, and I'm still debating on whether that was because I was so blunt about his feelings for Sakura, which he still hadn't declared to anybody, or because someone who used to spend her entire day trying to make him hers was giving him love advice.

Either way, he's dumb.

I wish he'd just kiss her already.

.

.

.

Diary,

Wish granted.

P.s. Ugh, I'm so glad I'm over him. I sure as hell do not want to be on the receiving end of that mouth anymore—that looked like a bad first kiss.

* * *

**A/N**: _Originally was supposed to skip this prompt and then out of nowhere I just had this idea. Lucky you guys, I guess? ;)_

_Sorry if this seems a little messily written, but this is a diary/journal entry. I don't know if you guys have ever had one, but in my diary, the entries were always really jumbled in thought and skipped pretty abruptly. Because it's like pouring your thoughts on a page. And I hope you realize that thoughts are very messy most of the time and not organized. xD_

_P.s. I'm aware this wasn't Sasuke's technical first kiss, but it was the first intentional one. Besides, you don't really think Karin would know about that accidental kiss with Naruto right? xD_

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	25. i was sure we could see a new start

**Title: **I was sure we could see a new start  
**Summary:** Sasuke never really knew Sakura had a thing for mementos, until now.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Souvenirs  
**Rating:** K+  
**Warning(s):** Some angst. Not overly so, though.  
**Comments:** Idk I just like the idea of Sakura having a thing for keepsakes and mementos and things. I just see her as that type of person.

* * *

He didn't really mean to find them.

He had just been looking for her stash of kunai and shuriken, to use in their impromptu sparring match, and had accidentally stumbled upon them as he opened a large drawer of a worn desk in her closet. Having seen her ninja outfits above it only moments before, Sasuke simply assumed she kept her training gears there.

Instead, he found a bunch of random objects—no, _souvenirs_—neatly placed in lines, grouped, and... organized—from old to new.

Almost as if they were forming a timeline.

He picked one at the beginning of the first row: a small, withered flower that he couldn't tell the original color of. One that also looked as though he could ruin all too easily in one wrong move. Deciding he didn't want to be on the receiving end of his maybe-girlfriend's nasty punches, in case she held every single object, including this one, dear to her, he slowly lowered the tiny thing to safety and back into its original placement.

_Odd_, he thought, as he slowly began surveying the array of diverse items. _I wonder why she's keeping them. They don't seem to relate._

Then, something caught his eye, and his breath hitched. His hand reached out almost robotically, hand wrapping around the object, feeling the familiar cool of the metal—

"Hey, Sasuke-kun, what's taking so long? Did you find them or—"

Sasuke nearly jumped at her voice. He didn't have the time to draw away from the desk for more than a step before she came into her room and found him standing there, holding his old, scratched up headband, and in front of an open drawer that she recognized all too well.

"Oh," she said, eyes widened in surprise, but seemingly not mad. "I guess you snooped a little."

Instead of feeling irritated at her jibe, Sasuke merely blinked, still a little stunned from what he found.

"Why do you have this?" he finally said, once he'd recovered. He looked down at the object in his hand, frowning deeply at the scratched and worn material. He clenched his hand around it tightly. "I understand they're mementos, the things you keep in there," he said. "But this… I don't see why you'd keep this."

Sakura regarded him, for a moment, with careful precision. She looked thoughtful, as though she was trying to choose the right words for him to understand.

"Sad keepsakes," she finally decided on telling him. But then she shook her head, taking back her words. "Or more like… nostalgic keepsakes." She nodded to herself, and smiled lightly. "They remind me—"

"They?" He hadn't meant to interrupt, but he had been taken completely off guard.

_So she has more than one sad souvenir?_ he thought to himself, inquisitive.

Sakura's smile grew softer.

"Yes," she affirmed, stepping closer to him. She took the headband from his hands and approached the open drawer, putting it back to its rightful place before beckoning him forward.

He did as prompted.

When he was close enough, she gestured to a specific row—the last one—and ran her fingers across each object with utmost affection and care.

"You know where this is from, right?"

He recognized it instantly. "The underground lairs," he said, before looking at her curiously. "Where did you get that?"

"Our first reunion, two years and a half after you left. You blew up the area, remember?"

Slowly, he nodded.

_Of course I remember,_ he thought, looking at her almost suspiciously. _Though I don't know why you'd want to remember that. _

She pointed to the next object, a few placed ahead. "You know what that one's from too, right?"

Sasuke looked at it, for a moment, thinking. He wasn't sure why he would recognize it, it looked especially ordinary to him, except maybe the darkened tip—

His eyes widened. "Is that—"

Sakura smiled. "Yeah," she said. "It's the poisoned kunai I tried to kill you with."

If Sasuke wasn't confused before, he definitely was now.

_Why in the world would she—_

"They remind me of Team 7," she started, finally getting to give him the explanation he had interrupted earlier. "The happy days… they remind me of those moments where you forgot about your revenge, when you were with us. When you laughed and you smiled and we were _family_. Our best days." She paused, and bit her lip, looking down again. "But it's not just that. It's the bad days, too. When you abandoned the village. When we were left behind, training and fighting and searching for you. For _years_."

The incredible sadness in her eyes made him grasp her forearms gently and speak up, "Then why do you keep them? Why make them souvenirs?"

He didn't understand. They made her sad and they held awful memories, he didn't get why she would want to keep them. After all, ever since he'd been back in the village, those memories were never mentioned—not after the original discussions and extensive apologies, anyway—for the sake that it completely ruined the moment, each and every time.

Sakura looked at him dead in the eye, then, forest green full of honesty, love and trust. "Because, Sasuke-kun," she whispered, touching his face affectionately. "They are reminders of the hard work we all put into getting you back with us." She smiled, and kissed the corner of his mouth lovingly. "I want to remember, for the rest of my life, just how much blood and tears and sweat I put into getting you to return."

Her lips brushed his in a sweet, lingering kiss, then.

When she pulled away, she opened her eyes and whispered, "I want to remember the painful part of it all, because it makes me eternally grateful to have you here with me, now."

Sasuke's heart swelled incredibly, and it was all her could do to wrap his arms around her fully and bring her in an intense, passionate kiss, so he could try to tell her exactly how he felt about those words.

* * *

**A/N:** _At my grandma's right now, and the advantage of her going to bed early and not having internet is me having so much time to write my remaining prompts. WOOT. (You're likely reading this on Sunday when I get back, but this was written on Wednesday.)_

_Hope you liked this one, it came to me pretty naturally. Also, just to clear up with the maybe-girlfriend thing, it's just that they've been dating-ish for a little while and they've hugged and kissed a few times, but never anything that serious, so he didn't know if he could call her his girlfriend yet. I wanted to put that in the story but it didn't fit in there at all. So meh. _

_Love you all, and I'd love to hear your thoughts! _

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	26. just give me a reason

**Title: **just give me a reason  
**Summary:** This isn't giving up. At least, that's what she tells herself.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Losing Hope  
**Rating:** T  
**Warning(s):** Some hotness, but no sex. Just an intense make-out sesh.  
**Comments:** You can take this in either AU or canon settings. Whether this is a modern fic or ninja fic is up to you. Whether they're all people who work at the same place, or Kakashi is her uncle and Sasuke and Naruto her longtime friends from highschool, or if you just want the good old regular Team 7 thing… ALL UP TO YOU. Also, I recommend listening to Start of Time by Gabrielle Aplin as soon as Sakura sees him at her window.

* * *

The decision is rather abrupt and out of the blue. There is nothing particular that sets it off, no harsh behavior from him or cold words, no careless brush-offs or rolling of eyes, no epiphany or new discovery…

Sakura just decides, one day, that she wants to date other men and doesn't want to be fixated on Sasuke anymore.

She supposes that waiting around eight years for him to come around has taken its toll on her poor heart. She supposes, _Enough hope was lost along the way. I have had my share of heartbreaks, and I don't want to hurt anymore._

So she gets herself out there, and she dates. She comes across all sorts of men: those that only want to get in your pants, those that have no respect for women and think they don't deserve to be recognized, those that hold themselves in such high grounds that you can barely meet their standards, those that hold their women on a pedestal and treat them royalty (and not as normal people), those that stick to you like a leech, those that drown their sorrows and issues in alcohol, those that have the mentality of a five year old, and so many, many more that she fails to remember.

She meets all kinds of guys. And at first, it is kind of discouraging because they do not seem good enough, or nice enough, or capable enough to satiate her needs. She lets them hug her and kiss her cheek and her hand—but _never_ her lips.

Sakura does not deem any of them worthy of her first kiss.

That is, until she stumbles upon Shin, one Saturday night, after four months of senseless dating.

Instantly, she flushes pink and does a double-take, blinking in surprise when she confirms his identity. It's been years since they've last spoken—what was it now, three? Four? Something like that. They hadn't seen each other since the day he gave her his love letter.

Technically, it hadn't been anything spectacular, and she probably would have forgotten about it under different circumstances, but Shin was the first boy to give her something like this. When she had denied his affections and told him there was someone else that she loved, he simply smiled and wished for it to work out for her. Since that day, she had kept the letter tucked neatly into a drawer as a fond memory.

But Sakura never expected she would see him again. Especially since he wasn't from around here.

So she decides to go for it.

"_Shin_?"

"Huh?" The man is momentarily confused, and it is understandable given that he doesn't come to this place enough times to be recognized, but the moment he spots her, a gratifying blush spreads to his cheeks. "Sakura-san?" he asks, voice filled with wonder. "Sakura-san, is that _you_?"

Sakura smiles most brilliantly in reply and nods, and when he beckons her to the seat beside him, she goes without hesitation.

Perhaps this could be exactly what she was looking for.

.

.

.

As it turns out, Shin wasn't what she is looking for, either. He is a nice man, really, but she finds out that there _is_ such a thing as _too nice_.

His friend Tadashi, though, is a different story.

They meet through Shin that first night she runs into him, and from the start, she is instantly attracted to him. He is tall and handsome, with jet black hair and light blue eyes, and the word 'confident' is written all over his body. Sakura pleasantly notes that he didn't seem arrogant or narcissistic. And although she spends most of the night talking to Shin, it is obvious that the interest becomes mutual pretty quickly.

When Shin realizes this, he backs off, but he doesn't seem bitter about it. Instead, he sends a wink to his friend and declares he will fetch himself a drink.

But he never comes back.

.

.

.

She decides to break the news to them at their next group outing.

"I have something to tell you guys," she announces, once everyone had received their ramen.

Sasuke, who is sitting on her left, turns his head to look at her and raises a questioning brow, hands leaving the chopsticks in his bowl as to give her his full attention.

Naruto and Kakashi, on the other hand, simply hum in an inquiring manner, the former chowing down his noodles while the latter quietly read his orange porn novel.

Sakura frowns for a second, meeting Sasuke's eyes for the briefest moment, only to blush and quickly look down at the sight of his strongly attentive gaze. Months prior, when she was still hoping for him to return her feelings, she might have wondered if it meant something, but these days she simply brushed it off as him being a good teammate and friend—someone who cared what she had to say and who didn't want her to feel as if no one was listening.

So she ignores and clears her throat, and remembers that she had just asked for their attention and why.

She folds her hands under her chin, and beams. "I have a boyfriend," she declares.

Next thing she knows, Naruto is spitting out ramen broth and choking on his noodles, Kakashi's eyes are the widest she's ever seen them, and Sasuke is… something she can't quite pinpoint. The latter is quick to look away from her eyes when she tries to meet them, and he turns to his meal quietly, stirring the chopsticks in the soup.

Sakura is about to brush it off as him not knowing what to say, but she catches the sad, empathetic looks Naruto and Kakashi throw his way, and doesn't understand why.

.

.

.

Three months, a week and four days, that's how long it lasts. That's how long her dream world survives, before it all shatters with devastating force, after one fateful night. After she finds him in bed with another woman.

Surprisingly, as much as she likes Tadashi, it isn't the cheating that hurts her most.

It is the feeling of never being good enough, of being used, of being an easy target. It is the idea that he didn't even deem her worthy of this kind of act—that he didn't even try to move in that direction with her (not that she would have relented to him, anyway). It is that he didn't think she had it all, that he went to another woman to get what he thought she was missing.

Sakura felt… like low merchandise. Like she wasn't all that great, like all those other girls had so much more to offer than she did, like she wasn't satisfying—like she was the type of girl that didn't have what it took to make guys stay.

Tadashi made her feel so terrible about herself, that it was all she could do to punch his lights out when he ran after her and tried to apologize.

The walk home felt awfully cold that night, but she didn't cry until she got home and into her room.

.

.

.

It has barely been half an hour since the incident, and when Sakura hears soft knocking at her front door, she assumes it is Tadashi coming back for more.

"Go away!" she yells from her bedroom, voice croaky and tight from all the crying. "I don't want to see your lying, bastard, cheating face anymore!"

There is a minutely silence, before the knocking starts again, sounding persistent and angered, this time.

"I said go away!" she shouts, closing her eyes and hugging her pillow tighter. "Go away, go away, go _away_!" She chokes on the last word and swallows the sob trying to come out, thinking to herself that the last thing she was going to do was let this ass know she had been crying, and let him believe it had been over _him_.

_I'm not crying for you, you jerk,_ her mind hisses. _At least, not entirely. _Her eyes start to sting, and she shakes her head, trying to ignore the now more than persistent knocking. _Mostly, I'm just crying for the way you made me feel about myself. I feel like trash._

"Sakura," she hears from the other side of the door. "It's me."

Her heart stops, and just like that, the urge to cry wanes. Her arms loosen from around the pillow, and she lifts her head to look down the hallway, eyes wide in shock.

"...Sasuke?" she whispers, sitting up on the bed. She wipes her watery eyes and starts to make her way out of the bed, but then she hears a soft tap against the window of her room. Her gaze is immediately drawn to the sound, and she gasps as she sees Sasuke, standing outside her window in the pouring rain, soaked to the bone and panting, with a determined expression.

"Sakura, open up," he says, voice loud so she can hear him through both the rain and the glass.

Quickly, she scrambles off the bed and across the room, fingers working quickly on the latches before he yanks the window open and jumps into the warmth of her apartment, breathing uneven and body shivering a little.

Sakura is quick to notice.

"Kami-sama, you're _freezing_!" she exclaims as she touches his arm. She turns around and starts towards her bathroom, saying, "Stay right there, I'll get you a towel and some warm clo—!"

A forceful tug at her arm cuts her off, and the next thing she knows is that Sasuke is tugging her into his chest, and his free hand is cradling the side of her neck, before he swoops down and kisses her.

It is soft, gentle, as if he thinks she is too delicate to be roughly handled. Sasuke moves his lips against hers with achingly sweet precision, taking his time to memorize the curve of her mouth, enjoy the softness of her skin, the warmth of her breath. The hand on her forearm moves to touch her side, fingers stroking the area fondly, with the same tenderness he uses on her lips. He rubs the skin through her clothes in little circles, relishing the way she unconsciously shivers in response, and proceeds to slowly slip down and grip her hip gently.

Slowly, he breaks the kiss and pulls away, the hand at the base of her neck moving to grip her waist. His eyes flutter open a little, his gaze soft and tender as he looks at her and finds that hers remain shut. She is evidently dazed from his unexpected, but incredibly affectionate, gesture.

Then, her lids fly open and her mouth parts in surprise.

He doesn't give her a chance to say anything, once again, because as soon as he sees the flashes of realization, want, and love in her eyes, he feels too overwhelmed with happiness and leans down to capture her lips again. He is cupping her face with both hands, this time, and he is bolder, too, and much more intense in the way he moves and touches.

Her hands shoot up to grasp his shirt tightly, and she braces herself against his still soaking wet figure, responding to his kiss as best she could. She is a lot more timid than he is, using a rather gentle, shy approach every time she presses her lips against him, which is an odd thing when she is surely more practised than he is. Yet, he is still the one who guides her and helps her loosen up—he is still the one in charge of her movements.

The intensity of the kiss increases as he tilts his head to the side and cups her head better, one of his fingers tracing her jawline while he presses his mouth against hers in a harder and much more eagerly manner. She feels her stomach pool hotly as she feels how much he wants her, desires her, and it is enough to boost her into returning his hungry kiss with just as much force, her hands fisting the material tighter and pulling to get him closer. He groans softly in response.

A deep flush settles on her cheeks as she suddenly feels his tongue slip inside her mouth, sweeping and stroking with a kind of finesse that she knows he isn't supposed to have with his total inexperience in love, and she makes a noise of surprise. Her hands leave his shirt and her eyes open a little, but she is unprepared to see what come next. His eyes are shut tightly, his blush is fiercer, and there is a slight crease in his eyebrows that reveals just how much he has been longing for this. He looks so fervent and emotional, like he is kissing her with everything he has, with everything he feels for her, hoping and needing for her to understand what he is trying to convey.

And she does.

Shyly, her own tongue starts to caress his, and she moves to wrap her arms around his neck loosely, a mute little moan passing her lips as he begins to explore her mouth fully. It feels much better than when she had tried this with Tadashi. The latter made this kind of kiss sloppy and much too wet for her taste, but Sasuke somehow manages to make it enjoyable, sensual and sexy. It is something about the way he doesn't simply aim to brush their tongues—he is caressing and touching in the most erotic ways, making her moan and pant and causing her body to flush entirely.

She tries tricks of her own, twining and stroking in different motions, pleased with herself when she chases groans and sighs out of him. Her arms are now tight around his neck, but she doesn't seem to realize this. Wanting him closer, she moves a hand at the back of his neck and tugs strongly, while the other ventures into his soft hair. Fingers slip through the thick locks and take a handful, gripping him tight as she shoves his mouth harder against hers. Her brows furrow in deep satisfaction when he groans loudly against her lips, giving her one last, and almost punishing, kiss before he pulls away sharply and presses their foreheads together, puffing hotly against her cheek.

He is evidently in dire need of air, as she is.

His hands trail down softly, from her face, her neck, her arms, her waist, and finally to her hips. He grips her gently, giving her a tender squeeze.

"You…" she whispers, while trying to steady her disjointed breathing and recuperate her thoughts (that seem to constantly evade her right now). It is almost funny, she realizes, how this is the first time they've spoken since he first kissed her. She swallows nervously, trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach.

"H-How long have you been feeling like this…?" she manages to ask, trembling against him as he bunches up the material at her hips and jerks her closer to him, while his mouth left light kisses down her jaw. There is a low, rumbling sound as he fits her hips snugly to his, but Sakura is more captivated by the hot blush on his cheeks.

"A while, now," he replies in a murmur, kissing her mouth tenderly, despite his growingly desiring state of mind.

"And you didn't tell me because…?"

He kisses her again, a little longer but with still with the same sentiment as the previous one. "I'm not…" he starts against her lips, eyes shut tightly and frowning deeply, before trailing off quite easily.

She understands then, by the mere look on his face.

_I'm not that kind of person_, he means to say. _Words don't come to me as easily. I'm not as open as you are about your feelings._

She smiles, and he kisses her again at the sight of it, running a hand up her side while the other keeps her flushed against him. Sakura tries to appreciate how affectionate and loving he is being with her, but it is hard to concentrate on anything but his growing erection pressing against her intimately, and his flushed cheeks. He is so aroused and passionate about her that she can't help but to blush herself.

Heat spreads through her like wildfire as she realizes that she's the one turning him on like this, and not some other girl. That she is the one he finds so sexually attractive, that she is the one making his system run in overdrive—that she the one driving him crazy with her own body. The relief that she was not the one who wasn't good enough in her relationship with Tadashi washes over her in immense waves, and it is all she can do but to lean in and kiss Sasuke fiercely. She is thanking him, without words, trying to tell him just how much she appreciates him in the same way he tried to confess.

Oddly, he seems prepared for her gesture, almost as if he was expecting it, really, and responds the instant her mouth touches his. They hold a wordless conversation with every brush of lips, every stroke of tongue, every nip of teeth: love and apologies spoke through gentle lip brushes and wet strokes, anger and reprimand through harsh bites and forceful tongues, want and need through intense battles of the lips, teeth and tongues, and forgiveness spoke through the softest and longest kisses of all.

He is glad that she understands, just as much as he understands her. He is glad that she returns his feelings—something he was unsure about for a while now, ever since she started dating other men. He is glad to have been the most attentive in her relationship with Tadashi, or else he wouldn't have been the first to see her after her break up—he wouldn't have been able to tell it was over, the moment she walked past him that night, never recognizing him, with a stony face. He is glad to have had this opportunity.

And Sakura? She is glad, in a sense, to have lost hope.

* * *

**A/N:** _Obviously, I don't believe Sasuke would just wait around and do nothing (though I don't think he'd be a homewrecker either) but I thought the idea was nice to explore. _

_And omg yay, this was such a long drabble, right?! I was so incredibly inspired for it. I loved writing it, it was a lot of fun! _

_Did you enjoy reading it as much? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Especially on that make-out scene. ;)_

_Love youuuu!_

_P.s. I'm so sorry about the verb confusion. I didn't know how to fix it, it just sounded weird when I did. :S_

_P.p.s. this was supposed to be out SO MUCH earlier, but I got fake nails and they are way too long and I basically have a really hard time with them (I'm a lot better with typing though but I'm so much slower than usual it's kinda aggravating) + I've been having interviews lately so I'm a little stressed out with those. _

_P.p.p.s. Let's just pretend Sasuke is amazing at kissing because he is an Uchiha and he is observant as fuck, so when he saw people kissing, he picked up on the techniques instantly (and perhaps copied them with his sharingan hohohoho) because I refuse to make him experienced with other girls. HE'S JUST SO LOYAL, YOU KNOW?!_

_P.p.p.p.s. (last one I swear) The make-out sesh and its emotions was entirely inspired by the drawing "Kiss me, and you will see how important I am..." by DYMx. Seriously think it's my most favorite fanart EVER. So fucking beautiful. _

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	27. it's time for you to shine

**Title: **it's time for you to shine  
**Summary:** This week was just weird. First, Sasuke actually gave good advice. Second, she became a _millionaire_?! What the hell.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Unexpected Wealth  
**Rating:** T  
**Warning(s):** Some, uh, pretty intense kissing and sexual tension.  
**Comments:** Inspired by Grey's Anatomy.

* * *

She couldn't really remember how he got her to talk about it. She hadn't even told Ino—hell, the _only_ person who knew was her shishou.

Well, up until now that is.

"It always come down to money," Sakura said, frowning irritably. "I mean, no matter how good my intentions are, no matter how freaking amazing it would be to anyone else out there who don't have health insurance, or simply don't have enough cash, no matter how this would completely change the village and its reputation in the most wonderful way—that's not good enough. Nope. There has to be money—good money." Her hand fisted tightly. "Which I don't _have_."

Why was she talking to him about this again?

She felt a tentative touch on her balled up hand, and almost jumped in surprise. But as he squeezed gently, her eyes softened and shifted to meet his. He seemed hesitant—no, more like unsure. He wasn't used to comforting people.

"So the bank said no. What about the hospital? They usually have a budget for these kinds of projects."

For a moment, she couldn't believe this was actually Sasuke. Since when had he become so good at the skill of advising?

But then, she realized how much he'd changed in the past few years, especially after the War ended. It was as if he had finally been able to start healing and letting others in. Like he was allowing himself to follow his heart for once, and to finally be happy.

She wondered if he was reverting back to his original personality—the one he had before the massacre happened.

"They usually do," she agreed, dropping his gaze to stare at the hand still over her own. The corner of her lips twitched up a bit as he removed his hand quietly, but still kept it near hers, as if he was suddenly nervous about his little public display of affection. Her eyes found his again. "But after the war… the hospital's been very busy."

She paused, recognizing that 'busy' was a terrible understatement. She was about to correct herself, but the look he wore on his face told her he understood. Clearing her throat, she went on:

"Not just that, but our resources and medication have been running dry faster than ever. They're spending all the money they can in orders and special deliveries to the rest of the Alliance when they've run out, so there's not much to spare in the end." She ran a hand through her hair, then, sighing. "I knew the answer before I even asked."

"Then why did you?"

Sakura blinked. "Huh?"

He shrugged lightly. "Ask."

"Oh." She pursed her lips in thought. "I don't know. I guess… just to make sure."

At his raised eyebrows, she smiled lightly.

"It's like… when you confess to someone that you know doesn't return your feelings," she explained, her smile quivering a bit at an all too bitter memory. She was too distracted to see him frown. "You know the answer, and you know how it'll turn out, but you still spill your heart out to that person with that tiny little sliver of hope that you were wrong. And in the end, you… well, you _know_."

She chewed at her bottom lip when she had finished speaking, all too aware of the slight tension hovering between them. They tried to avoid bringing up any painful moments of their past as much as possible, given that it nearly always brought up old feelings of bitterness and resentment to the both of them.

But then he made it vanish with his next words.

"Only you would compare monetary problems to unrequited love confessions."

A long, heartfelt laugh slipped from her mouth, like the sweetest music he had ever heard, and as her shoulders began to shake in delight, his belly flipped in contentment. When her laughter subsided to giggles, she finally looked at him and grinned.

"But it made sense, didn't it?" she said, glowing with happiness.

He gave her a soft smirk. "I suppose."

Sakura's heart skipped a beat at the sight and she blushed prettily, looking at him with all the love and contentment that she held inside of her at that very moment. Sasuke's own gaze softened with a more subtle affection, and she thought she saw him leaning towards her slightly, so she took this as a sign of acceptance for whatever action she chose to do next.

She was relieved to find out she was right when she reached for his hand and succeeded in grasping it without him flinching or moving away. Even moreso, she found herself shocked when he didn't even hesitate to interlock their fingers.

Her big green eyes locked themselves on their linked hands, and for a minute or two, she couldn't tear her gaze away or register anything happening around them. All that she knew, in that very moment, was that Sasuke, who normally was too shy and private for public display of affection, was holding her hand andhad even made the moveto_ intertwine their fingers himself._

In _public_.

Her jaw slackened a little.

"Sasuke-kun…" she murmured softly, flushing a shade deeper.

At this, Sasuke cleared his throat, but not before giving her hand a squeeze. He seemed to be blushing a little himself, when she finally looked up at him.

Tilting his head to the side and up so he could look at the moon beyond Ichiraku's stand, Sakura now knew for a fact that he was blushing, because he always looked away from her when it happened.

Then, he asked in a soft murmur, "Is the money the only problem?"

"Huh?"

Sasuke cleared his throat again.

"Is money the only thing holding you back from opening that free clinic?"

"Oh." She blinked, then her eyes narrowed. "Yeah. I had the board's approval and all, the council was even ecstatic at the idea…" She puffed bangs away from her face, mildly irritated once again. "The whole thing just collapsed after we found out it was more than a little out of my price range. I tried to figure it out, like I told you earlier but…" She trailed out and waved at nothing, annoyed.

"I see."

Silence.

"Well," Sakura announced after a long minute, clearing her throat for the second time that night. "Enough about that! This whole thing is depressing. We're on a date for Kami's sake!" She winked at him. "I thought dates were supposed to be fun."

Sasuke smirked and pushed a cup of sake in front of her. "Alright, then." He poured himself a drink and held it up to her, saying, "Kampai."

Sakura laughed, clinking their glasses together. "Kampai!"

But then, she thought about something and smirked.

She waited just as soon as the cup touched her lips, and he was drinking his, before she teased, "Sasuke, are you trying to get me drunk so you can take me home and to your bed?"

She had never seen Sasuke lose his cool so fast.

He spat out his drink and bleached as red as a tomato, before coughing and sputtering words of denial—trying to defend himself and to reassure he wasn't that type of guy—and Sakura would be lying if she said it wasn't the funniest thing she'd ever seen this year.

.

.

.

Three days later, Sakura was at the bank again.

Though unlike last time, she was simply here to withdraw money for her trip to her favorite herbalist shop in the near future. She couldn't use the hospitals herbal resources since the war, and so had to buy her own when she worked on her antidotes and researched the effects of certain mixed herbs. Technically, she could put off the work and wait for the hospital to be financially well again so she could spare herself money, but it served well to take her mind off the anger and the stress of everything.

Especially lately, with the whole free clinic debacle.

Shaking her head to rid herself of her darkening thoughts, Sakura let out a slow breath before she mentally calculated the approximation of how much she would need. Once she was done, she told the lady at the counter, before deciding to add an extra fifty to her final number, just in case. The civilian woman smiled in a particularly cheery way—which Sakura ignored, thinking she'd had a good day—and nodded, before giving her the extra bill and printing two receipts. She gave one for Sakura to sign, and the other to keep, but it wasn't until after she signed and bid her thanks and good day's that she actually looked at her receipt.

It was a simple glance, at first. Just checking if she had enough to cover her rent for this upcoming month. She nodded to herself in confirmation, almost absentmindedly, really, before her eyes widened barely two seconds later and she did a double-take.

She stared long and hard for a good minute at the numbers on her receipt, before her mind simply went blank and she collapsed forward in a dead faint.

.

.

Her apartment was quiet. Quieter than it had ever been before, really.

Whether that was because of her still-present disbelief of the situation, or because her home really was that unobtrusive, Sakura didn't really know. And she didn't really care, either.

"_Sakura-san? Sakura-san, are you okay? Should I call for medical assistance?"_

"_S'kay…" she groaned, slowly lifting herself off the ground while she rubbed her sore head. "I'm okay..."_

She didn't retain much damage from the fall, apart from a pretty nasty bruise on her head, which still throbbed at the moment, a light headache, which had mostly receded by the time she got home, and some minor scrapes on her hands.

But at that moment, she didn't seem to care about that, too. As soon as the reel of her tumble was over, she immediately demanded to know what happened to her bank account. The lady, Meyasami-san as Sakura knew her by, proceeded to explain to her how a few days ago, a young man came to the bank with her account information—she added she did not know where he got it, but assumed it was from the Hokage—and asked for all of his savings to be transferred to it.

Sakura could only gape as she listened to Meyasami talk.

"_Who did this? Who was it?" she asked, when she had finally found her voice again._

"_He doesn't want us to tell you."_

"_It's __**my**__ bank account, I think I have a right to know who transferred—"_

"_You do," the bank teller said. "But he said to give you this, when you asked." She handed Sakura a slip of paper. "He said he wanted you to figure it out."_

Stupid move, that was. Well, either that, or a childish one.

Because one look at the handwriting… and she knew. That's all it took.

But if that hadn't been enough, the way he worded his text, the way she knew exactly what he referred to, the way it was written in near-clipped sentences…

Wordlessly, she leaned against the wall of her kitchen and brought the paper out of her pocket, running her eyes over the lines again.

"_I don't need this kind of money_," she read, gaze following the neat, cursive handwriting of a man she knew all too well by now. _"But clearly, you do. I trust you will spend it well."_

_Sasuke_, she thought, losing all strength in her limbs. _Sasuke_. Shakily, she slipped down the wall. _Sasuke, what is this? Why would you—_

A tear slipped down her cheek, snapping her out of her stunned daze.

And then, a smile broke from her lips.

_Sasuke-kun_, she thought affectionately. She squeezed the paper in her hand, feeling sagacious. _I think I understand why you're on a mission right now._

Silently, Sakura began counting down the days to his return.

.

.

.

These had perhaps been the longest two weeks of his life. The mission hadn't been particularly demanding for someone of his rank, especially with the skills he possessed.

There had been a few ambushes here and there, and some pretty good shinobi assassins to fight through once they got to the village, but they managed to get the prince of the emperor safely back to the palace without much of a sweat. The real trouble had been to deflect the senbons and traps thrown towards his high-end escort when he wasn't quick enough to finish them off right away (large groups tended to do that) but Sasuke wouldn't go as far as saying it was difficult.

Mostly though, the mission consisted of endless walking with an annoying teenager who thought he knew it all and refused to sleep in anything else than an inn. Sasuke didn't have a hard time tuning him out, but that was the problem—tuning him out left ample time for him to think about what he had just recently done in Konoha and what his and Sakura's relationship would turn out like upon his return.

It was a reckless thing, he did! Giving all that money to her, when they were only just barely dating? Sure they had kissed a few times and spent much of their time unnecessarily touching each other in whatever way they could, but that was hardly anything serious. Their relationship wasn't even defined—giving that much money to her was going to send so much turbulence their way. Sakura was going to freak out, wasn't she? This was too much, too soon. This was something like a marital deed. This was going to be _huge_ for her.

He didn't regret it, though. She needed it, and she needed it _now_—and Sasuke wasn't about to do anything better with the money, and he sure as hell didn't have anybody else to give it to. She was doing something incredibly good and selfless—or well, she wanted to do it, and money was the only thing getting in the way. In retrospect, she should _thank_ him.

But he doubted she would see it this way. He doubted she would get this far—or at least, that's what two weeks of overthinking got him to conclude.

_Too much free time and a shaky situation at hand… what could possibly go wrong? _he thought to himself, snorting.

Ugh, the longest two weeks of his _life_.

.

.

.

Finally stepping inside Konoha, Sasuke let out a shaky breath.

He wasn't sure what would happen, and he wasn't sure how he'd deal with it, but whatever she'd throw at him, however scared she'd get, he was hellbent on making her stay and making her understand—he was going to try his damned hardest to keep her at his side, because he wasn't going to lose her _now_. They had a long road ahead of them and he intended to have her there as long as he could keep her—forever, if she'd let him.

_(Not like he'd let her know __**that**__ anytime soon, though.)_

And then suddenly, someone tackled him.

He let out a grunt at the brute force, stumbling back a step, and went to glare at whoever it was, but stopped himself short when he spotted pink.

_Sakura_, he thought, eyes widening in shock. His arms went to her side as he tried to steady her, but she immediately lunged her arms around his neck to pull him in a tight hug. Growing concerned, his arms went around her to give comfort, thinking perhaps she had heard rumors about him of some deadly injuries (or worse) and had run to him in staggering relief, but he barely even had the time to tighten his arms around her before she abruptly pulled away and brought his face in for one hell of a kiss.

He didn't really understand what was happening, but the moment her mouth touched his, he lost all sense of logic. His eyes slipped shut tightly, and he responded to the kiss with equal fervor, cupping the back of her neck with one hand, while the other wrapped itself tightly around her midsection. He was lost in the emotional turmoil of it all, feeling all her happiness, appreciation and love in the way she worked her mouth on his, in the way their tongues tangled and touched, in the way she ran her hands through his hair—it might have even been confusing, had he been thinking at all during this moment.

He didn't let her be the only one to give, though, he was just as intense and passionate in the way he responded, letting her know exactly how he felt about her kiss, her touches, her feelings, her surprise greeting—about _her_.

It was of no surprise, when they both pulled away, how out of breath they were. How flushed they were. How electrified they felt.

What was surprising, though, was the intensity of their kiss and how they had just done so _in front of a crowd of other people._

They had never kissed like that before. They had shared a few pecks and sweet, long kisses, but nothing this fevered. Nothing so incredibly passionate and strong—nothing that left them feeling weak in the knees and dizzied in their minds.

"What," Sasuke rasped, leaning his forehead against hers and still panting for breath, "was that for?"

Sakura simply grinned and laughed, her big emerald eyes tearing up as she gave him a light peck.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun," she whispered breathlessly, laughing again. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

At his confusion, she simply said, "I can live my dream, now." She kissed his nose. "Because of you."

Realization swept through his eyes, and her smile became all too contagious to him, and Sakura giggled again, wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing him into another kiss, despite knowing they hadn't fully caught their breaths yet.

There was nothing to worry about.

* * *

**A/N:** _The shifting between Sakura saying _Sasuke_ and _Sasuke-kun_ is totally intentional. This was my odd way of trying to express her struggle between wanting to stay professional with Sasuke, because of their undefined relationship status, yet sometimes becoming too overwhelmed with affection for him that the affectionate suffix slipped. (And yes, I am aware that a wife and husband or boyfriend and girlfriend drop all suffixes because they become so comfortable with each other but I felt that dropping it, for Sakura, would be her trying to show him she didn't just look at him as simply a future romantic partner, but also as a friend and comrade. Like her trying to keep her feelings out of their bond, I guess. Confusing a bit, I know.)_

_Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Took a real long while to get this one out, and I'm sorry. But things got really messy in my life and I got back to dealing with some pretty tough crap, which completely took away my muse and will to write for a couple weeks, but I recently got back into it, despite having not fixed much of anything going on. Weird._

_Love you all, and do leave a review telling me what you think!_

_P.s. the tear was not of sadness. It was her tear of realization, of affection, when she understood behind his reasoning. _

**DeepPoeticGirl**


	28. just a day of you and me

**Title:** just a day of you and me  
**Summary:** None, for this chapter, because it's a bunch of one-sentence fic that don't all relate.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompts:** all listed in the fic, so I don't wanna name them. D:  
**Rating:** It has basically all ratings. Prompts with ***** at the end means they are rated M.  
**Warning(s):** Mentions of depression, so trigger warning for the people affected by the mention. Sexual content in some. AU in some, canon in others. Fluff, angst, humor… just a bunch of varieties lol.  
**Comments:** Originally asked for prompts so I could get my mojo back, but fact is they've been neglected for like a month (or less? Idk). Then I decided to do it just because I wanted to experience how to write one-sentence fics and let me tell you, it's not fucking easy. It's actually pretty hard. Also, I may have broken a thousand writing rules to do this.

* * *

**depression**

After he leaves, she is destroyed—she doesn't think she can live without him, doesn't think she can go on while he isn't here, doesn't think that there will come a day when she stops crying herself to sleep, doesn't think her heart will ever mend under the crushing weight of sorrow in her chest, doesn't think she will ever love a man more than she loves him—because he is gone, gone, gone, never to come back.

**touch***

When they make love, he loses himself not in the pleasure or the act or the sounds or the words, not in the way she feels around his cock—no, when they make love, he loses himself in her tender touch, her warm kisses, hitching breaths; soaking in the unconditional feelings of her heart—sinking into a world of honesty and acceptance and love, love, love.

**cistern**

Just like a cistern to its water, Sasuke carefully stores his feelings away, tucking them to safety, saving them, and waits for the better days where somebody can make use of them again—he just never expects it to be Sakura.

**invasive**

He doesn't realize to what point she has invaded his life until he wakes up one morning to find her her in his kitchen, cooking breakfast for them both, wearing nothing but one of his shirts, when they're not even dating.

**medication***

Whether they gave him Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox, Vivalan, Asendin, Zyprexa, or whatever fuck else, he knew that no medication was ever going to be better—was ever going to make him feel more alive, more real, more sane—than making love to Sakura.

**anxiety**

Despite everything he'd been through his life (murder, genocide, war, near-deaths, insanity, and pure mindfuckery) he'd never felt an anxiety more intense than the moment just before he first kissed her.

**curse**

When he learned of the Uchiha's curse, that was when Sasuke decided he could not have children, could not take the chance to bestow on them the pain his clan had been through for far too long now—and in the back of his mind, he whispered an apology to Sakura, expressing regret for a future he could no longer have with her.

**snug***

Only when he was snuggly fitted to her body did he feel the world fade away from them.

**lust**

She could always tell when he lusted for her: not by the sultry look in his eyes, nor by the way he constantly sought to touch her, or by the feel of his hungry kisses... no, it was in the way his jaw tightened when he saw her walk into the room-like his whole body flared at the sight of her, with a need so intense that he had to grind his teeth to tame it.

**music**

While everyone else says he is most beautiful when he's concentrating or working out or training shirtless with his team, Sakura thinks Sasuke looks his best when he plays his violin: the emotions that contorts his face, the rawness of his feelings, the way his eyebrows crease and mouth tightens—he pours his whole heart out through his melancholic music, and she thinks, in that moment, that he is nothing short of breathtaking.

**forbidden**

Sasuke knows that she cannot be touched, knows that she is not his to have—for she is the bringer of Life and he is the ruler of Death, and such a love is forbidden even for the Gods—but he cannot bring himself to care, cannot bring himself to walk away; he is a selfish man and she is what he desires, and he will destroy anyone who tries to stop him.

**parasites**

It was kind of hilarious that the moment Sasuke realized he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, wanted to _marry_ her, was when Sakura ranted to him in very great (_gross_) details about the different kinds of parasites in this world and the ones she found most interesting; she sounded so utterly enthusiastic, so fascinated and passionate—he couldn't help but to fall for her some more and think, _yes, she's the one. _

**oxygen**

Loving him wasn't a choice anymore… loving him, it was like breathing air—something that was embedded so deeply within her that it became an essential to her self, a natural reaction, and even indispensable and crucial to her living soul.

**waterfall***

When rain poured down in waterfalls, they loved to spend their time indoors: moving together wantonly under the sheets and relishing the warmth of each other's bodies, while waves of pleasure crashed through them and transported them to euphoria.

**eyes***

Every time Sakura reached her peak, what he loved most about her wasn't the sound she made or the response of her body-it was that look in her eyes that was so full of lust, desire and love that they were his undoing, each and every time, and he would groan his own climax against her mouth, spending himself inside of her while keeping their gazes locked together.

**red**

He found her at her most irresistible when her lips were painted tomato red.

**knee**

When he proposed, Sasuke wasn't down on one knee—he was down on both, trembling while he cradled his girlfriend's dying body, face buried in her crimson tainted hair as he whispered, "_don't leave me please… god damnit stay with me—marry me!"_

**black cat**

Despite what many people would have believed, Sasuke actually did have a pet in Sound, just this once: it was a five year old black tabby—which he'd found scurrying around a shady restaurant, seemingly injured and starving—with green, green eyes that reminded him all too painfully of a girl he'd been trying to forget.

**willow**

_"We'll be buried under a weeping willow,"_ she tells him on the night of their tenth anniversary,_ "because that is where we fell in love—that is where you first kissed me after I gave you a flower crown and you tucked my hair behind my ear."_

**underwear**

When he asked her why she couldn't come in the pool with him in her underwear, he didn't expect her to blush fiercely and tell him she wasn't wearing anything under her clothes.

**shuriken**

Sakura never finds shurikens particularly threatening until the day Sasuke is brought into the emergency room, on the brink of unconsciousness and dangerously close to death, his body completely littered with them.

**to embrace**

She didn't know what to do when he woke up screaming and snarling words she couldn't understand, but she knew things were getting out of hand as he started throwing furniture against the wall—so she ran to him and hugged his back, gripping him tightly as she pleaded for him to stop and whispered reassuring words, trying to reel him back to the real world and away from his nightmares.

**sorrow**

He collapsed on his knees and wrapped his hands around her arms, panting desperately, and Sakura felt a terrible sorrow wash over her, threatening to crush her heart, as he choked a sob and whispered hoarsely, _"when are they going to end?"_

**smile**

There is no smile that is more heartbreaking than the one he gives her after she softly confesses to him at the airport, all teary-eyed and quivering voice, because he loves her too—but he knows, as well, that after he boards his flight, he will likely never see her again.

**Kirin**

Of all the things he expected her to say after he showed her Kirin (his own incredibly powerful technique that he created) _'wow, that was beautiful'_ was not one of them.

**tenderness**

When he comes back to Konoha, he treats her with an odd sort of almost-tenderness that she doesn't know how to handle-one that makes them hover over the lines of friendship and something more, and leaves her pondering for days on end.

**tofu**

Unsurprisingly, Sasuke's lifestyle consists of routines and chores, that are all too banal, common and tasteless-life tofu!-for Sakura's taste, and so she proceeds to interrupt him as many times as she can, to drag him to places full of fun and spontaneity.

**fight***

They fought often and they fought hard—but in the midst of an argument, they often had the habit of throwing, slamming, and pushing one another against floors and walls, fucking each other in savage lust until all the anger melted away and only left tender feelings in its place.

**fingertips**

She loved the way he touched her-loved the way he would trail his hands on her skin, stroking her flesh with the pads of his fingertips, as if wanting to memorize it, before he dipped his mouth there and gave a single kiss, slow and gentle, showing his deepest appreciation.

**Hokage***

Of all the places for their spontaneous trysts, the Hokage's office during lunch hour was probably not one of their best ideas... especially not when the esteemed dobe-sama was due any minute now-and would likely torture them with the worst missions for months on end.

**Sunday**

On Sunday mornings, Sasuke most often woke up to long, slow kisses from his girlfriend, and a tray of steamed rice, green tea, and tamayogaki on his bedside table.

**yukata**

He has never seen Sakura wear one before, but when she emerges from their house and joins him on the porch, so they can watch the _hanabi festival _fireworks, wearing the prettiest little pink yukata with red printed flowers, he vows to do this kind of thing more often.

**heart**

_"I'm sorry,"_ she rasps, bringing her hands in front of her chest, _"but you broke my heart so badly that just looking at you __**hurts**__, Sasuke-kun."_

**hair**

When she grows it out, Sakura worries a little about Sasuke's opinion-but she realizes, after he starts running his hands through her hair more often (especially during lovemaking) and develops the habit of burying his face there during sleep, that the rumour about him liking long hair really _was_ true.

**Karin**

Surprisingly, it wasn't Ino or Hinata or TenTen who confronted him about the way confusing way he was treating Sakura-it was his red-headed former teammate, whom had harboured feelings for him for so long now, yet still went out of her way to demand he clarify his feeling to her the next day, lest he desired to keep his privates intact.

* * *

**A/N**: _And voila. :) I had so much fun writing this! You can shoot me more one word prompts if you liked it, I won't guarantee they'll be out soon but I will save them up until I have a nice, big batch of prompts again. :D _

_Special thanks to lilmikomiko, loreleivonkatze (especially you, because you gave so many :D), staarked, chidorivariants and all the anons who gave the prompts!_

_If you do leave a review, do tell which one(s) was (/were) your favorite(s)! It would make me so happy. :3_

_Much love,_

**DeepPoeticGirl**


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